Jäger
by MorgothII
Summary: Jäger-German for hunter. For the past year, Remnant has experienced a wave of violence against major crime lords, all connected to a single person known as The Jäger. One day his luck runs out, and he is captured but is offered a choice to join the Beacon Academy to train as a Hunter, along with a certain silver-eyed scythe-wielder.(Takes place at the start of Volume One)
1. Character Info

**First Name: Jake**

 **Last Name: Unknown**

 **Alias: The** _ **Jäger**_

 **Age: Seventeen**

 **Height: Six feet.**

 **Hair color: Dark brown**

 **Eye Color: Dark brown**

 **Ranged Weapon: Rifle based on the real-life .557/450 caliber Martini-Henry**

 **Other Weapons: Detachable sword bayonet and saber**

 **Semblance: Able to hide his aura, movement, and scent from humans, Faunus, and Grimm, thus rendering him invisible to Grimm for a period of time. Still able to make noise to confuse opponents/prey**

 **Past: Personal life currently unknown, but he is responsible for at least fourteen attacks and nearly thirty deaths.**


	2. I The Hunter

**Jäger Chapter One: The Hunter**

Atop a roof opposite of the Vale 'Dust Till Dawn' store, a lone figure crouches down. A long, tattered brown cloak moves slightly in the wind as the boy aims his rifle. "Come on, Roman Torchwick; show your pretty little hat. I got you dead to rights, in my sight…..and now I just made a terrible line. Wonderful," He says sarcastically in a quiet tone. He then refocuses his weapon towards the large glass door…just as one of the thugs that had entered with Vale's crime boss goes flying out the window, along with a small red-and-black blur, which quickly pulls out a huge red scythe.

"What the hell…." He mutters in shock as he proceeds to watch the teen girl, only a few years younger than him, beat the living snot out of Torchwick's thugs. He lowers his rifle, not wanting to hit the newcomer. "Of course something like this would happen." With a sigh, he watches his target climb up a ladder to the roof of another building, the girl close behind. Before he can either join the fight or even continue to watch it, the boy's hairs stand up at the back of his neck. A voice soon follows, confirming his suspicions that he is no longer alone.

"Nice view of the skyline at night. I don't think that is why you are here, though."

With a hidden expression of panic, the boy whirls around to see the latest newcomer, a grey-haired man wearing glasses and carrying a walking stick eyes the boy with a calm expression. The boy raises his rifle slightly, ready to fire at a moment's notice. The intruder doesn't react, other than continuing to chat in a calm, almost pleasant tone.

"I assume you are the one they call the _Jäger_? The one who has been behind the recent string of assassinations and murders of various criminals? I am Professor Ozpin, and I would like to speak to you about your….hobby."

The boy merely snorts at this. _'Not on your life,'_ The _Jäger_ thinks to himself, his lip curling upwards in a slight sneer. Ozpin continues to watch the youth as he appears to lower his gun. Suddenly, the boy leaps backwards, off of the building and slings himself forward, smashing through a window. He closes his eyes and activates his semblance, just in case anyone (like Ozpin) tried to use their aura to track him.

Professor Ozpin, headmaster of the Beacon Academy, shakes his head slightly in mild disapproval. "Kids these days. Always got to do it the hard way," He sighs as he reaches for his own scroll to contact his fellow huntress, Professor Glynda Goodwitch, and see if she is having an easier time. Hopefully, within a few hours Beacon would have not one but two new recruits that may very likely turn out to be the best Hunter and Huntress in all of Remnant.

 **Meanwhile…**

After getting out of the building, he puts as much distance as possible before slipping into the sewer system, and more specifically, his well-hidden (and very much clean and stink-free) hide-out. As he closes the door, he places his rifle against the wall that holds up a small cork board, with a small series of pictures and documents are tacked to it.

"That was a close one," the so-called _Jäger_ mutters aloud as he returns the picture of Roman Torchwick back to the board, along with a series of other major targets of interest. A woman in a red dress. A boy with an older man near a wooden cottage in the midst of a verbal fight. A flash of green hair. A near-transparent parasol with a dash of pink-and-brown hair in the background. Several high-ranking White Fang officers. And of course, Roman Torchwick. The boy takes a step back, placing one hand on his chin and the other underneath said arm's elbow in a position of deep thought.

"Damn it to hell! I almost had him! Then that girl with the scythe shows up, and now that Hunter, Ozpin. Gotta be more careful for n-" He suddenly stops, a familiar (and unwelcomed) sensation going up his back and neck.

Someone was outside the door to his hideout, and they weren't going to be leaving anytime soon. The stone might hold the intruder back for a minute at most, but that would be the best case scenario.

It was time to abandon ship.

Without turning around, he quickly snatches the pictures off of the board and every important piece of paper on the board, tucking it into his secret pocket in his cloak. He whirls around, grabbing his rifle before heading towards the emergency exit he had created in case of this type of situation. The _Jäger_ is halfway to the other hidden door when the main door disappears into a wall of dust and debris. A white-haired, somewhat portly man in some sort of red uniform steps into the now-compromised room, casually wielding a blunderbuss with axe blades fitted to the butt of the weapon.

"Would you like to do this the easy way, or the fun way?"

The _Jäger_ once more remains silent, instead once again fleeing, this time unable to activate his semblance, however. He quickly raises his rifle and fires the chambered round, aiming at a bottle of cleaning oil near a stack of paper. The round hits and sets the oil on fire, quickly creating a make-shift smokescreen to delay the latest Hunter.

Finally reaching the wall where the smaller hidden door was built into, the teen places his back over the hidden stone panel, one hand operating the lever that operates the rifle's unique falling block action to eject the spent cartridge and expertly loading a fresh round into the single-shot chamber, before hitting the equally well-hidden pressure plate that opens the door.

The _Jäger_ begins to move backwards, his back still to the wall and hole that will lead to the surface, when he hears yet another voice, this one right behind him.

"You should have figured out that fully-trained Hunters and Huntresses don't make the same mistake twice in one day."

Before he can face the newcomer, some sort of object smacks him on the back of the head, knocking the boy out with a single clean hit.

 **Later…**

Ruby Rose's face gains a rapidly expanding smile when she realizes that Professor Ozpin has just accepted her into Beacon two years early, when all three occupants look to the door behind the gray-haired headmaster. "Ah, that should be our other guest for the evening," The coffee-lover says in a casual tone that makes Goodwitch raises an eyebrow and Ruby to cock her head in confusion, her mouth opening to ask the question of who this other guest was.

The door opens, beating her to the question as Professor (sorry, Doctor) Oobleck and Professor Port walk in, carrying a avidly struggling teen boy only a couple of years older than her, his hands cuffed behind his back.

"You buggers! Release me! I didn't do anything wrong! I demand to have my rights given to me! DO you know who I am?!"

With a slightly forceful shove, the protesting boy is forced onto a chair that Ruby just noticed was right next to her. Professor Port walks over to Ozpin and Goodwitch, handing over a long rifle and some sort of short sword blade that has the ability to be attached to the barrel of the gun, along with a saber. In addition, several belts of bullets of various designs along with a small box are also placed.

Ozpin places the weapons on the table between him and the two teens, his three fellow Hunters and Huntress standing right behind him. The headmaster (and Ruby) eye the weapon with barely-masked (or openly shown in the red-and-black haired scythe wielder's case) interest. Ozpin picks up one of the bullets and carefully removes the bullet's top, pouring the contents onto the table. To everyone's surprise, it isn't dust that falls out, or even advance gunpowder, but black powder. He then looks at the newcomer, who is still struggling against his shackles.

"I have never seen this design before, and I have seen many types of firearms. How did you come into possession of it?"

The boy refuses to answer, though he does stop his futile effort to escape, simply settling on glaring at the four adults with an intense glare. Ozpin sighs at this. "We can do this all week. I would prefer to give you a chance to speak on your own will, and not under interrogation. The choice is up to you."

The boy once more remains silent for a minute. In fact, the whole room is silent as five pairs of eyes watch the teen. Finally he exhales and speaks in a gruff tone.

"What do you want to know?" Ozpin nods before he begins his questioning.

"What is your name?"

"The _Jäger_."

"Your _real_ name."

The boy remains silent for a moment before speaking up, his tone even more gruff.

"Jake."

"No last name?"

"If I had one, I would have told you. Only got a first name." Ozpin resists the temptation to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. The veteran Hunter has seen Grimm more cooperative than Jake. But at least progress has been made, so the coffee-addict continues his line of questioning.

"Where did you get your weapon?"

"Built it."

"By yourself? Where?"

"Why don't you ask Mr. White and Mr. Green over there? In my hideout. Same with the bayonets and the bullets. The anti-Grimm rounds are a pain to make. Need to have the right kind of metal."

Ozpin doesn't show any emotions despite the feeling of being impressed by the _Jäger_ 's ability with weaponry. Once more Ruby doesn't bother to even attempt to hide her interest. Granted, the gun was nothing like her sweetheart, Crimson Rose, but still, it was a one-of-a-kind, or at least, the action was. The newly-accepted Beacon student is equally curious about what Jake's "Anti-Grimm" rounds are made of, but a sharp look from Goodwitch keeps her mouth shut.

"I got a question of my own. What are _you_ going to do with me now? I highly doubt you're just going to release me, not after all the effort you put into capturing me. Oh, and by the way, congratulations. No one has ever been close to capturing me, let alone be successful at it."

Ozpin claps his hands together, resting his elbows on the cool metal of the table.

"You are wanted for at least fourteen separate attacks in Vale, and I have no idea if there are more that have been unreported or even taken place in any of the other kingdoms. Normally, I would have you in chains and sent to the authorities immediately, but there is one thing I have noticed about your…actions." The boy leans forward slightly, his face now looking like a slab of granite. Ozpin continues, knowing that he is now entering a minefield of sorts. Of course, if the headmaster makes a wrong move, all that happens is that Jake will have a less-than-stellar future.

"Not once was a single innocent bystander hurt, let alone killed. You only took out known or quickly-confirmed criminals, and not small-time pick-pocket type. Crime bosses, enforcers, and the like. That tells me that you have a moral compass of sorts, to protect the innocent. As such, I am offering you a choice that I have never offered before, and will most likely never do so again. Are you ready to hear me out on these?" He asks.

Jake gives the Hunter a rather dry look. "I doubt I have the option to say no," He says. The grey-haired man ignores the sarcasm and once more continues.

"Option one: You refuse option number two and go straight to the authorities to go on trial. Option two: You join Miss Rose as the latest member of Beacon Academy. You have the bearings of a Hunter, and only need the guidance to become one, free of charge."

Jake eyes everyone in the room with a wary eye, most of his earlier hostility somewhat diminished. "I have some terms that I wish to be met." Ozpin nods his head to indicate that Jake can continue.

"One, if I have to be assigned to a team like I hear is the normal procedure, I want to be given as much autonomy as possible. I don't work well with others. That is my only term." With that, Jake falls silent with an air of finality. Ozpin turns around to face his fellow teachers, an eyebrow raised as a silent question of their opinion of the _Jäger_ 's demand. With reluctant nods of their heads, the two men and one woman agree. Ozpin clears his throat before once more addressing the captured teen before them.

"Very well. Your demand is accepted. So I take it you are taking the second option?" The boy rolls his eyes slightly in frustration.

"Yes. Now, can you please remove these damn restraints and let me have my gun back?"

Goodwitch opens her mouth to deliver a retort but she is stopped by a rapidly tiring Ozpin. "Well, I doubt you are going to try to run off, so why not? Just stay within the building, or on the roof. You'll be leaving tomorrow morning with Miss Ross to go to Beacon."

The boy grunts as Professor Port removes the shackles. After taking a second to rub his wrists and return blood flow to his hands, Jake gets off the chair and brushes by Ruby without a word, grabbing his gun as he exits the room, torn cloak fluttering behind him as he storms into the empty hallway. With a confused expression on her face, the fifteen-year-old girl looks at her new headmaster. "Miss Ross, I have a mission of sorts for you, if you are willing." Ruby doesn't believe what she just heard.

Ruby Rose being given a mission by a veteran Hunter?

' _This is so much better than getting an autograph!'_ The silver-eyed teen thinks to herself before speaking out loud. "You can count on me, sir!"

Ozpin gives a slight smile at the energetic scythe-wielder. "Keep an eye on Mr. Jake starting tomorrow. Not quite spying on him," He says, cutting off the small teen girl when she starts to protest. "Far from it, in fact. Just try to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble with other students. And who knows? You two might learn something from one another?"

Ruby takes a more relaxed posture upon hearing Ozpin's explanation. She gives a determined grin. "You got it Professor Ozpin!"

 **And done! My first story in the year 2017! Not going to promise any sort of posting schedule as being a senior in High School sucks! It is not easy, trust me! Anyways, please leave any creative feedback, criticism or not. Next chapter: Jake meets Yang and the rest. What could** _ **possibly**_ **go wrong? See you guys and gals next time!**


	3. II New Faces

**Jäger Chapter Two: New Faces**

Jake, also known as The _Jäger_ , stairs out the window of the aircraft dispassionately, ignoring the scene of the taller blonde hugging Ruby in a tight grip and the following conversation they have. _'The heavens have a funny sense of luck, it seems. First, I miss my target. Next, I get to be ambushed by several Hunters and then I end up captured. After that, I pretty much get blackmailed to attend this academy. And now, I got a shadow named Ruby Rose. Perfect."_

At least he still has his rifle, saber, and sword bayonet. Plus his entire stockpile of bullets, most of which had been placed into the Beacon armory in his pre-assigned locker for 'storage reasons'. And, of course, his small collection of papers and photographs that had not been found when he was captured. Jake had only agreed to go to Beacon Academy.

He hadn't agreed to stop his hunting of criminals. If they had wanted him to stop, they should have made that tiny detail crystal clear. At least (for now, that is) he won't have to worry about evading capture by the local authorities. While the _Jäger_ had enjoyed the thrill of the hunt/delivery of justice, one tended to find the semi-incompetence of the police to be tiresome.

His line of thought is interrupted by the sound of a TV announcer. "The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department." Jake sneers at the mug shot of Roman being shown on the screen, but then tenses as the male vice continues, and a picture of his rifle, which is currently strapped to his back, appears on the screen.

"We have also received reports that lone sniper known as The _Jäger_ has been captured by local Hunters. Not many details have been released to the public, but it is confirmed that the weapon he had used was a black powder, level-operated single-shot rifle. The only picture released to the public in regards to his capture was a picture of his rifle. Back to you, Lisa."

A 'nudge' to his shoulder causes the rifle-user to cast a glare backwards at the blonde sister of Ruby. "You're him, aren't you? The _Jäger_ ," She says in a matter-of-fact tone. Jake turns the rest of his body around to face the two sisters. He eyes the duo as he folds his arms across his chest as he leans back against the window now behind him. Jake removes one of the bullets from his belt and fidgets with it in his right hand as he speaks in a low, gruff tone.

"Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not. What's it to you?"

"Um, Yang, it might not be the best idea to-"Whatever the red-and-black haired teen was about to say is cut off by the disappearance of the holographic TV display. A hologram of Professor Glynda Goodwitch replaces it. While everyone else on the transport aircraft watch the recording, Jake merely continues to survey the city of Vale below. Somewhere down there is Roman Torchwick and his acquaintances.

' _Scheme while you can,'_ He thinks to himself, his upper lip curling into a slight sneer. _'I'm still coming after you.'_

 **Later…**

When the aircraft finally docks with Beacon Academy, the first one off (after the one boy who got sick and Ruby thus dubbed 'Vomit Boy') is Jake. By now the teen has noticed everyone pointing at him and his rifle and whispering when they think he isn't looking. The boy merely fixes the clasp of his torn cloak. He doesn't really give a damn what they think of him or what he had done. If given the choice, Jake would kill those men and women again. After all, it isn't like they were innocent.

Far, far from it.

"Could I have a moment of your time, Mr. Jake?"

The brown-haired lad looks at a stoic-faced Professor Ozpin. The former self-employed assassin matches the grey-haired Hunter's expressionless face with one of his own as he replies.

"I don't see why not? After all, you practically own the next four years of my life. What is it?" He finishes in his typical gruff manner. Ozpin merely ignores it.

"Come with me to my office. I have a feeling you would prefer to not be harassed afterwards about why the headmaster of your school wished to speak to you," He replies, turning around towards the school after Jake nods. Said teen follows close behind.

The journey to the tower that houses Ozpin's office is one filled with silence. Jake doesn't show any interest in idle talk, and Ozpin doesn't push the boy. Until they enter his office, that is. The _Jäger_ takes a moment and admires the intricate clock mechanisms that are moving all over the room. Then he stands in front of the desk as its owner sits down, fingers interlocked. The Hunter takes a moment to eye his new (and very reluctant) student.

"I remember your 'request' to have your own, solo team. It seems that you wouldn't have to make that request in the first place. We now have an odd number of new students and so I can either make one team by a team of five or a single-member team. You certainly have luck as well as skill on your side, Mr. Jake." Ozpin remains silent for a minute, trying to see if he can gauge Jake's reaction. Jake doesn't reply for a few moments, aside from slightly raising an eyebrow.

"And your little 'watchdog' you have watching me?"

Ozpin nods before replying. The grey-haired Hunter does not even try to feign innocence. "Miss Rose will be on her own team. However, you will be expected to work with them and vice versa. Is that understood?"

Jake bits back a low growl that had been building in his throat. _Note to self: Never allow yourself to be captured again. Ever._ The teen knows that Ozpin has taken on the same air of finality that he had been shown last night. "Fine," He spits out the word with some venom. "Is that all, _sir_?" He then asks. Ozpin resists giving him a glare, glad the Glynda wasn't here. The veteran Hunter takes a deep breath before answering.

"Yes, there is. You will still be participating in tomorrow's initiation test. While you won't be given a partner like the rest, it is best for you to work alongside Miss Rose and her possible teammates, as you will be serving alongside them, even if you are in your own team. You can go down to the main hall, as we are about to start the welcoming."

 **That night…**

Jake sits by himself in an unoccupied corner of the ballroom, far away from the other students. His eyes are closed and he placed his tatter cloak over his body as a blanket. His rifle lies across his lap. His saber and sword bayonet are between his back and the wall, the ends poking out so that he doesn't rest on the hilt of his sword. He is not, however, asleep as it appears. Instead, his mind is whirling through information he has gained, sorting or discarding data. Mental images of teens of both genders periodically appear before also being stored.

For the past few hours, the _Jäger_ has watched the other teens. His purpose was to begin creating a mental collection of their names, traits, weapons, and semblances. Already four stood out well beyond the others, though there are a few other notable teens as well.

 _Yang Xiao Long: 17, blonde, brawler with shotgun gauntlets called Ember Celica. Optimistic and humorous. Ruby Rose's half-sister. Unknown semblance. Highly dangerous_

 _Blake Belladonna: 17, black hair, interesting combination weapon called the Gambol Sheathe. Silent, reserved. Apparently prefers books to people. Actually a Faunas, most likely cat due to her black bow. Hiding a dark secret. Unknown semblance. Observe carefully._

 _Weiss Schnee: 17, white hair, rapier/dust revolver named Myrtenaster. Scar over left eye indicates fighting experience of some sort. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company based in Atlas. Appears to be self-confidant. Radiates arrogance and superiority to others. Hostile to Ruby. Unknown semblance. Highly_ annoying _!_

 _And finally, Ruby Rose: 15, red-and-black hair, speed semblance that curiously leaves rose petals in her wake. Silver eyes. Wields the giant scythe/sniper rifle combination weapon known as Crescent Rose, which he also built on her own. Dependent on older sister. Obsessed with weapons. Highly skilled with her weapon. Socially awkward. Uncomfortable with being the youngest member of Beacon known so far. Assigned to watch Jake. Extremely dangerous._

Jake musings are brought to a halt with the sound of play fighting. This is quickly followed by a brief argument. The _Jäger_ sighs but doesn't open his eyes. Thankfully, it is over quickly.

Or so he thought.

"Um, hey Jake…"

' _Oh, fuck me,'_ Said boy mentally groans. He opens a single eye to confirm the identity of the voice. The one and only Ruby Rose, giving the _Jäger_ a friendly (albeit small) grin. The boy wants to snap at the younger girl to buzz off, but then he remembers Ozpin's words about how he would be working alongside the scythe-wielder. With a deep breath, the rifle-wielder manages to keep his tone slightly less gruff.

"Yes Ruby?"

"I just was wondering, what are these special 'anti-Grimm' rounds you were talking about last night?"

' _Ah, so she finally decided to talk about weapons with me. Very well.'_ "Here," He grunts, one hand reaching down to his belt. Jake has several belts to contain bullets for his rifle. The main one also serves as his belt, along with four smaller ones on his wrists and ankles. He hands over the round he plucked to the silver-eyed girl. As Ruby examines it, Jake says a single word.

"Tungsten."

Ruby pauses and shoots the _Jäger_ a questioning look. To her surprise, the corners of the usually-dour teen twitch upwards ever-so slightly. The fleeting sight is quickly replaced with Jake's typical facial expression as he continues to talk.

"You asked what made these rounds so special. I used tungsten in the rounds to make a kinetic penetrator. Each round can go through nearly any Grimm, robots or people, or lightly-armored vehicles. Of course, tungsten is very hard to acquire these days, so I had to be very sparing with them."

Ruby looks back at the round she is holding in a new light. One of admiration for the material used in the bullet. Ruby had read about tungsten and its properties when she had started drawing out plans for her weapon. While she was still at Signal Academy, she tried to make her own tungsten-core bullet. The round had ended up jammed in the prototype to her sweetheart and then nearly blasted Uncle Qrow's head off. Long story short, she was banned from working with tungsten while on school grounds.

Ruby finishes examining the tungsten-core bullet and then hands it back to Jake. To her surprise, however, the teen shakes his head. "I can tell that you appreciate weapons. Think of it as a gift since we will be working together in some way or another while attending this school. Good night," He says, closing his eyes to signal that he is done talking.

The red-and-black haired scythe-wielder looks at the now-sleeping rifleman. She knows that she isn't good with people, but even she is confused by this sudden lack of gruffness at that moment. _'Maybe he's just tired?'_ She sure is, and so with that thought in mind, she carefully navigates through the dark until she is back to her own sleeping bag. Crawling into it, she quickly falls asleep, the _Jäger_ 's gift tucked into the pocket of her combat outfit.

 **The next day…**

Once more Jake blocks out the boring instructions being given by Ozpin and Goodwitch. He and the rest of the new students are standing on one of the cliff sides surrounding Beacon. Below them is a thick forest that seems to never end. And undoubtedly teeming with all types of Grimm. Inwardly, the teen snickers at Ruby's reaction to how she and everyone else will be assigned partners based on the first person they make eye contact with. Well, everyone but him of course.

Luckily, or perhaps on purpose, the _Jäger_ will be the first one to be launched into the jungle. The reluctant student places the butt of his rifle on the ground, one hand holding the barrel while the other takes out the sword bayonet. Without even a single glance downward, Jake slides the bayonet onto the muzzle and locks the blade into place. He then adjusts his grip on the weapon, an anti-Grimm round having already been chambered. His brown cloak flutters in the wind slightly.

' _Come on, get on with it! I've seen snails die faster,'_ He grumbles silently. At least Ruby and Weiss are silent for now. Finally, Ozpin finishes answering a question about landing or something. Jake gets his body ready for the sudden forward push as the platform launcher he is standing on turns on. With a loud whoop, the seventeen-year old flies through the air, rifle at the ready.

The hunt has begun.

 **And finished! Special shout-out to DesertFox2, Hayane234, MaximumSalt, MilitaryTitanium, PhantomPryromaniac, Shashenka, Warztas, doctor3378, Energy Dragon Slayer, and crybluedeath for favoriting and/or following my story. Next chapter: Jake and the other new students fight for their lives against the Grimm in the initiation.**


	4. III Hunters and Hunted

**Jäger Chapter Three: Hunters and Hunted**

With a loud shout, a Nevermore's head explodes as the tungsten cored, .577/450 caliber bullet smashes directly into the center of its right eye. Jake zooms right by the evaporating corpse. With a small savage grin on his face, the teen boy uses one hand to push the long lever underneath the stock and just behind the trigger guard. The brass cartridge is ejected from the breech, tumbling behind him. The _Jäger_ 's other hand tightly gripping the gun barrel, he grabs a second anti-Grimm round from his belt and places it into the breech of the rifle before pulling the lever up, finishing the loading process of his unique rifle.

Somewhere behind him are the rest of the new crop of teen boys and girls for the Beacon Academy, including his unofficial semi-partner, Ruby Rose. But he doesn't really focus on that. No, the lad prefers to simply the freedom of flight, though some high-pitch girlish scream indicates at least one other person isn't having fun. But again, the _Jäger_ doesn't focus on that issue any further.Instead, Jake now decides to begin his landing descent. He spies a clearing just ahead and below him. However, he also notices the large Ursa and two Beowolves that are standing in the same area. How unfortunate….

For the trio of Grimm, that is.

A savage grin appears on the _Jäger_ 's face as he begins his terminal descent. _'This is where the fun begins,'_ He thinks as he aims the sword bayonet attached to his rifle's muzzle towards the Ursa. The large, bear-like black creature rears up and looks at the speeding teen. A half-second goes by before it realizes that the thing it is seeing isn't slowing down. But by then, it is too late.

With a sickening thud, the sharp metal blade pierces the throat of the creature of Grimm, killing it instantly. The body stumbles backwards slightly before falling onto its back with a mighty crash. The sinewy body of the bear starts to dissolve. With a grunt, Jake yanks the bayonet clear out of the dead foe. He then jumps off of the body onto the ground, a Beowolf on either side.

At first the two wolf-like creatures stare at the rapidly-disappearing remains of their brethren. Then their demonic eyes narrow at the tall teen that was responsible. Low growls build in their throats as they raise their hackles, ready to attack. Jake merely grins, readying his rifle. Hs saber rattles slightly from its position on the right side of his hip, the sheath attached to his belt. "You two sure are big. And very, _very_ ugly! So, who's first?" Jake asks, not expecting to receive a coherent answer of any form from either of the Grimm.

The Beowolf on the right reacts first, charging forward. Its compatriot on the left also starts its own charge a half-second later. The _Jäger_ once more merely smiles before aiming his loaded rifle at the right Beowolf. He makes sure that the iron sight at the end of the barrel is lined up with the white head of the otherwise-solid black demon. He takes a quick, deep breath, finger on the trigger. Jake lets out a half-breath before gently squeezing the trigger of his self-built firearm.

Inside the gun breech a hellish scene plays out. A small piece of metal moves forward and connects with the center of the bottom of the loaded bullet. The black powder is ignited by the striking of the primer. Gas is quickly built up and propels the tungsten-cored bullet the only direction it can move: Forward. The grooved rifling inside the steel barrel causes the speeding bullet to start to spin as it leaves the barrel, a cloud of smoke leaving the barrel after the deadly piece of metal.

The bullet smashes into the Grimm. The thick bone does nothing to stop the round. The anti-Grimm bullet goes straight through the brain cavity, causing horrific (and fatal) wounds. The Beowolf continues to charge forward due solely to the sheer momentum it had built up. Then the lifeless body stumbles. The slain Grimm then slides through the grass and dirt before coming to a stop just a few inches from Jake's boots. The body twitches slightly before ceasing all movement.

The (still very much reluctant) student doesn't have the chance to enjoy his third Grimm kill of the day, however. While most normal creatures would break off their attack after seeing one or more of their compatriots being slain, Grimm are far from most creatures. Their sheer power and lethality is matched only by their (sometimes suicidal) stupidity. Or, at least anything other than the massive elephant-like Goliath that lurk just outside of Vale's defenses.

Jake knows that he has no time to reload his rifle before the second Beowolf charging him is within striking range. The seventeen-year old fighter merely rests his gun on the dissolving corpse nearby and turns to face the last of the trio. With a disturbingly calm expression on his face, he faces the oncoming demon. His right hand grabs the metal sheathe of his saber, lifting the protective cover up at an angle so that the flat of the blade is facing the ground. Then the hand stops, holding the sheathed saber still. Meanwhile, his left hand firmly grips the leather-wrapped hilt of the blade, but doesn't draw it. Instead, the boy does something unexpected. He waits.

A second later the Beowolf leaps into the air, claws outstretched and canine fangs bared, ready to rip open Jake's throat. The demon prepares to experience the delicious feeling of warm blood on its maw as it pictures standing over its dying prey, the high of taking in his terror. But it never comes. Nor will the wolf-like creature of Grimm be able to experience those sensations again.

For the briefest second, the vulnerable underbelly of the Beowolf is exposed to the young intruder. But that short amount of time is more than enough for the experienced teen. In a blur of motion, Jake crouches down before striking like a coiled viper. A shrill ringing of metal echoes throughout the forests as he deftly unsheathes his saber with a flourish.

Instead of simply pulling it out, however, he once more does the unexpected. Using the energy placed behind the withdrawal of his blade, the _Jäger_ continues the swing directly at the Beowolf that is now in the process of jumping over his head instead of on him. A small amount of blood lands on his wrist as the razor-sharp edge slices clean through the fur and skin.

With a howl of pain, the Beowolf skids to a stop a couple of feet away from the boy, turning around with a growl. Jake maintains his calm expression as he faces the Grimm. For a millisecond man and demon engage in a staring contest. Then the monster collapses to the ground, like a marionette whose strings have been severed. For the next minute, the only sounds that can be heard in the clearing is Jake's breathing as he sheathes his saber, having wiped the blade on the grass to clean the blood from the polished blade.

The body of the Ursa has completely evaporated. The first Beowolf is nearly dissolved as well. As the third dead Grimm begins to dissolve into shadowy essence, Jake picks up his precious rifle from the nearly-gone corpse he had placed it on. He operates the lever that lowers the block to eject the spent brass shell. He then inserts another anti-Grimm round. While he is glad to get the chance to use more than one or two such rounds in a single day, he also knows that he is carrying seventy-five percent of his entire tungsten-core supply.

"Ozpin is definitely going to be paying for the next load of tungsten," He mutters gruffly, irritated at the thought of having yet another conversation with the coffee-addict. A small part of him really hopes that the Hunter will turn out to actually be a villain, so that Jake has a legitimate reason to kill the annoying prick. But the rest of him, his much more sensible side, reins it in. _'Better get moving,'_ He chides himself. Don't want to end up being partnered with someone who would slow him down, and complicate his already-disrupted plans.

Already the captured vigilante hears the sounds of battle as the other teen boys and girls traverse the area. Voices of both excitement and dismay as each student makes eye contact with their partner also fill the air. Jake raises an eyebrow when he hears a series of shotgun blasts go off overhead. A blonde-haired blur gives him a hint of an indication of the identity of the source of the noise. He shakes his head slightly as Yang quickly disappears from sight. _'Make her highly dangerous_ and _extremely unpredictable,'_ Jake internally grumbles.

A new sound causes his just-lowered eyebrow to arch upwards even higher than the last time. Maybe his hearing is still recovering from the barrage of gunfire and shouting, but the _Jäger_ could have sworn that he heard a girl shout the word 'sorry' to someone else. Hearing no other words or voices to confirm or deny this, Jake simply shrugs his shoulders and starts to move. As suddenly as he had appeared, the former drifter leaves the clearing.

For the next thirty minutes or so the _Jäger_ wanders aimlessly through the woods. Every now and then he catches a fleeting glimpse of his fellow 'classmates'. More often than not, however, Jake sees Grimm of all kinds. Nevermore, Ursa, and Beowolf, all wander through the ancient forest either in pairs or in solitude. For a brief second, the teen saw another boy, a rather silent teen named Lie Ren, take down one of the twin-headed King Taijitu.

Thanks to his unique stealth semblance, though, Jake remains unseen from students of Grimm. Just the way he likes it. While his personal hunting ground for criminals was in the four kingdoms that made up Remnant, Jake always preferred the forest ever since he was a small boy and came across that old, hidden cabin. He finds it somewhat funny how an important even that had occurred such a (relatively speaking) short time ago now feels like a lifetime…

" _What do you have there, my little_ Jäger _?"_

A sharp, acidic smell brings both his train of thoughts and his body to a complete halt. He quietly sniffs the air again.

 _Fire_

A second later, a huge, billowing plume of black smoke rising from the area directly in his path confirms the thought. _'Who the hell was the nit-wit who used fire in the middle of a big-ass forest?!'_

The snapping sounds drawing closer to the _Jäger_ elicits a sigh from the increasingly miffed hunter. As he backs away, at first slowly but rapidly increasing his pace, Jake has one thought in his head as he raises the rifle at the white mask of a Beowolf leading the rest of its pack of eighteen or so other Beowolves away from the conflagration behind them.

" _Fuck this shit."_

 **Later…**

Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie all take a break to look at the semi-frozen giant Death Stalker that the heiress had stopped from killing her scythe-wielding partner. The giant Nevermore that had brought Ruby and Weiss to the once-empty ruins has broken off for a second run at the clearing. All the two-member teams have picked up a relic, large chess pieces that look like some sort of stamp press. Just as they are about to leave, however, a loud gunshot causes them to look at the edge of the forest.

It takes them a second to realize what they are seeing. Once their brains fully register the scene before them, the eight students watch silently. They all stare, slightly slack jawed, at the lone cloaked figure running. The seven 17-year olds and the fifteen-year old can see that he is reloading his single-shot rifle. Right behind him are six savage Beowolves, eager for the kill, their blood riled up by the chase that had seen the rest of their pack being wiped out.

Ruby blinks her eyes several times. "Um, is that….?"

Jaune nods his head, still in a shocked stupor. "It looks like it."

The figure being chased is Jake, who is currently a very pissed-off _Jäger_. "Oh, that is it! You're going to hell RIGHT NOW YOU UGLY MOTHERFUCKERS!" He shouts. He picks up his speed, quickly gaining some distance. Jake then skids to a halt, turning around while doing so. As a result, he merely has to pull the trigger of his rifle as he had already lined up the iron sights with the leading wolf-like Grimm. He pulls the trigger, creating another loud bang of gunfire.

The group continues their role as silent spectators as the mask and head of the targeted Beowolf erupts like a gory volcano, the round passing clean through. Jake quickly works the lever, ejecting a steaming brass shell and loading in a fresh anti-Grimm bullet. The breech has barely been sealed when the _Jäger_ pulls the metal trigger again. Another loud bang echoes as a second Beowolf collapses to the ground, the round entering through the center of the chest and continuing three-quarters of the way down the demon's body before finally stopping. The third Grimm leaps over the body, but the last two Beowolves trip over the body that has only just started to dissolve.

Jake doesn't have time to reload a third round, however, as the leap the Beowolf took brings the demon just a few feet away from him. Jake doesn't panic, however. He braces his body, one foot taking a step back, the other crouching forward. His left hand grips the area between the stock and the trigger, while his right tightens its hold on the wood underneath the metal barrel. With a shout, the teen charges at the now-startled Grimm. The sun glints off of the sword bayonet still attached to the gun.

With a mighty thrust, the blade buries itself deep into the throat of the now-doomed Beowolf. With a savage tug, the blade is pulled out as Jake deftly reveres his grip on his precious rifle. With another mightily thrust, the solid wooden butt of the gun smashes into the top of the demon's head, sending it straight to the ground. Once again reversing his weapon, the _Jäger_ impales the area where the skull and spine meets of the dying Grimm, finishing it off.

By now the last two Beowolves have gotten back on their paws and now also a few feet away. Jake quickly unlocks and removes the bayonet with his right hand. He pulls the arm back a bit as he waits for the right moment. When said moment presents itself, the hunter throws the short sword-oversized knife at the right Grimm. The high-pitched yelp of pain quickly ends as only one Grimm now remains, dead-set on avenging its fallen pack.

Once more Jake repeats his earlier strike that he had dealt to another Beowolf only an hour or so earlier. This time, however, the Beowolf doesn't die immediately. It lies a yard away from its killer, whimpering pathetically in agonizing pain. Jake calming approaches the sixth wolf-like demon, his saber at the ready. With a single flick of the wrist, he severs the blood vessels (along with nearly the entire neck) of the Beowolf, silencing it forever.

Even the ancient Death Stalker stops its efforts to break the ice trapping its lethal, glowing stinger as the boy calmly walks over to the body of the fifth Grimm. He yanks out the bayonet and wipes the gore off using what hasn't yet dissolved of the fur. He then calmly reattaches the deadly blade to the barrel, locking it firmly into place. He walks by the still-stunned group, loading in a new anti-Grimm round into his rifle while doing so.

"Well? What are you doing there standing with your mouths open? Unless you want to be target practice for those ancient Grimm, I suggest we head back to the cliff!" He says gruffly, cautiously eyeing the once-more struggling scorpion-like Grimm. He internally winces when he hears the sound of ice cracking. Then a shadow passes by overhead as the ancient Nevermore returns. Thankfully, the group recovers, even if they eye the reluctant student with both wonder and some admiration. Most of the later comes from Ruby. But she focuses on the present.

"Come on, guys! Let's move!"

Jake brings up the rear of the group, keeping an eye on the nearly-free Death Stalker. "This is going to be fun," He mutters to himself in his distinct gruff manner. "Let's hope that these kids are up to the task, because I sure as hell am not packing enough fire power to kill both of those bastards!"

 **And done! Next chapter will the nine students of Beacon face off against the two ancient Grimm. Will they come out unscathed? Find out in the next chapter! Also, thanks to all my followers and those who have added** _ **Jäger**_ **to their favorites! Until next time!**


	5. IV Teams

**Jäger Chapter Four: Teams**

"For the love of…" Jake mutters as another one of his precious tungsten cored bullets bounces off of the extremely thick exoskeleton of the massive ancient Death Stalker closing in on him and the others. They had come across more ruins near a cliff. There was also a thick fog/mist present. The _Jäger_ had climbed up one of the arches on either side of the area before an ancient stone bridge. Nora, Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha are also currently engaging the over-sized Grimm scorpion. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake were fighting the massive Nevermore across the bridge. Jake has a clear line of both monsters from where he stands.

" _Why did I have to be captured?"_

That question has come up one time too many in the past couple of hours alone. He still finds it hard to believe that it was only two days ago that he had been on the brink of killing Roman Torchwick, and then those stupid Hunters had to interfere. Well, at least his unofficial partner, Ruby, is certainly a very skilled fighter. Of course, she is no killer….aside from Grimm, of course. Personally, he isn't sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Only time will tell, most likely.

Though why does he care? He barely knows the girl. HE shrugs his shoulders slightly, ending that particular train of thought while his mind returns to another line. A much more business-like one.

" _Speaking about criminals and killers, I need to visit Junior soon. He might be my loyal eyes and ears of the underground, but if he would sell me out in a heartbeat if he thinks that I'm done with my work. Maybe he will even have some news on the Torchwick radar."_ With that final though, Jake fires his rifle one last time. This time, he is partially successful. Whether it is due to skill, luck, or both, the bullet manages to find a weak spot in the giant scorpion's tail. The bullet cracks the exoskeleton ever so slightly, weakening the area right behind the stinger.

Having depleted three-quarters of his already limited anti-Grimm bullets he had brought for today, the teen decides that it would be best to switch targets. He shoots the Death Stalker one last glare before turning around. As his left hand operates the lever and then inserting a new round, Jake gets down on one knee. He briefly glances at his well-used brown cloak. In the past, he had used the tattered article of clothing as a type of wind gauge.

After observing the torn fabric, Jake quickly adjusts his aim as he points the barrel skywards. He takes in a deep breath and holds it as he slowly leads the iron sights on the massive winged form of the ancient Nevermore. The Grimm is in a middle of a fight with Ruby, her sister, and their partners, and thus already making wild movements. But the _Jäger_ isn't intimidated by this. He had spent years hunting Grimm, Humans, and Faunus to know all the tricks of sharpshooting and sniping.

Once he has properly adjusted his aim, Jake half-exhales. As he does so, he lovingly squeezes the trigger gently. A large cloud of white smoke, with a brief glow of partially-burnt gunpowder illuminates the cloud as the tungsten and lead bullet rushes skywards. This time, Jake is rewarded with success.

With a sickening crack, the bullet hits the right ankle of the massive raven-like creature of Grimm. The Nevermore squawks in pain as the bullet enters the leathery leg. The penetrator doesn't lose any of its energy once it makes contact with the hollowed bones that composed the winged demon's body. Instead, it simply shatters the bone into fragments, crippling both the leg and the bird. The dented, slightly misshapen, blood-soaked bullet bursts out of the leg. Still screeching in pain, the Nevermore looks at its assailant with unbridled hatred. While it won't lose any of its lethality in the air, it will still be in immense pain, thus weakening the concentration of the Grimm.

Of course, there is another, more detrimental result for the shooter. The _Jäger_ now has the dubious honor of being the sole attention of the massive Nevermore. Its red eyes narrow in rage as it opens its beak. This time, the screech it emits is not one of pain, but of pure, unadulterated hatred at the reluctant Beacon student. It breaks off of its fight against the three seventeen and one fifteen year old girls as it wheels around in the sky. The only thing it leaves behind is a hail of large feathers, delaying its previous quarry from distracting it. Now, it flies off towards its land-bound ancient counterpart and the foes the Death Stalker is engaged with, and more importantly, the _Jäger_.

Jake doesn't focus too much on this, however, as he finishes reloading. He quickly fires again. This time, the bullet hits the chest of the Nevermore. The bullet travels deep once more, causing a shower of blood to hit the ground. To his mild dismay, the bird continues to move forward. A third shot shatters the other ankle, and a fourth shot narrowly misses the beaked head. Jake maintains his cool, however. He can't afford to panic. A lesson drilled into his head when he was learning to fight.

' _In a gunfight, he, or she, who keeps their cool will be the most likely to win. Sure, raw aggression and luck are both useful, but those who develop a dependency on it will be limited. But one who uses their brain in every situation? Keep a level head, my little_ Jäger. _'_

"JAKE! LOOK OUT"

Suddenly, the ancient Nevermore breaks off at the last minute. The confusion this creates for the 17-year old teen is quickly resolved as he spins around. While well-meaning, Ruby's shout of warning is too little, too late. His brown eyes widen in alarm as he sees the large, glowing stinger descending upon him. He has only time for a single thought before the Death Stalker's attack makes contact with the aged stone he is standing on.

" _Clever bastards."_

Then the giant stinger smashes into the stone. Weakened by countless centuries, the pitted stone smashes into jagged shards and dust as the ancient Death Stalker tries to kill the insolent rifleman. Thanks to the single second gained from Ruby's cry of alarm, Jake isn't skewered to the spot. It is, however, very close for comfort.

Too close, in fact.

A piece of debris zooms towards the _Jäger._ He doesn't notice it until the fist-sized piece of rock slams into the side of his head. The world quickly goes black for what feels like merely a few seconds. With a groan, Jake opens his eyes, coughing slightly. He takes a second for the ringing sound in his ears to clear slightly before deciding to observe his surroundings and find out what the hell happened.

He looks around to discover that he has woken up on top of a pile of rubble. He shakes his head slightly, dazed. A fine layer of stone dust covers his cloak. He groans internally, knowing just how much of a pain it will be to clean the semi-shredded brown fabric. He feels a slightly warm liquid move slowly down his forehead. One hand quickly grabs his unintentionally (and fortunately nearby) discarded rifle, the other hand presses lightly against the liquid.

Jake already has an idea about what the substance in question is. The sight of crimson on his palm merely confirms the fact that he is bleeding slightly. He wipes his hand against the grass, smearing the vibrant green area with smudges of scarlet. Then he looks back at the cliff. His eyes bulge slightly. His brain rapidly processes the sight in front of him, and then reprocesses it again, not quite believing his eyes. The rarely-stunned fighter mutters two words under his breath as he continues to stare at the cliff.

"Holy shit…"

Lying against the face of the cliff towards the ground is the ancient Nevermore. Or rather, the body of the massive flying Grimm. The severed head is all the way at the top of the cliff, along with a certain silver-eyed, red-and-black haired teenage scythe-wielder. To his surprise, the body hasn't begun the usual process of dissolving. Probably due to the sheer size of the fucker, the _Jäger_ reasons. He looks around some more, searching for the hated ancient Death Stalker. To his mild frustration, it appears that the four other teens have managed to defeat his recently-acquired (and extremely short-lived) nemesis.

Suddenly a loud gunshot echoes throughout the area. Jake feels the uncomfortable sensation of being shot at, something he hasn't experienced for a while thanks to his increased skill with stealth in his last few kills. The ones that weren't linked to him, to be more precise.

" _If this is the end…fuck it,"_ Jake mentally grumbles, having harbored a very remote expectation for Ozpin or one of his targeted groups to have secretly ordered his death or something similar. He feels some blood splatter his back, indicating that the bullet was not for him, however. The loud whimper behind him confirms it. Readying his rifle, Jake spins around, ready to resume fighting, only to watch as a large Beowolf collapses onto its back, a bullet hole going straight through its head. The _Jäger_ quickly recognizes the person responsible for it by merely observing how accurate the bullet was, and the distance of the closest weapons of the same caliber as the wound. His brown eyes lock on to the young girls face as she holds Crescent Rose in its sniper mode, the distinctive curved blade folded up.

Once more a slight smile fights its way to the surface, briefly appearing before being suppressed by the typical dour expression of the _Jäger_. _"Maybe dealing with Ruby will be bearable after all."_

 **Later…**

Jake yawns as team after team is formed, with various names being assigned and team leaders chosen. After the two ancient Grimm demons had been dealt with, it was a relatively uneventful and fast trek back to the starting point. From there the group had gone in two different ways. Jake went off alone, searching for a bathroom while the others did who-knows-what. Thankfully, the young rifleman quickly found his objective. He had used the sink to first clean off the dried blood from his superficial injury before attempting to remove at least some of the dust and debris from his old cloak. He had been only partially successful, but he had felt that it was good enough for the time being.

After all, he can have access to all the school's cleaning facilities soon.

With that thought in mind, the _Jäger_ exited the bathroom and had hidden himself near the back of the assembly area, using his semblance, drawing nearly zero attention to Jake. Even Ruby Rose and the others fail to notice him as they enter. Then Ozpin appeared and started to assign teams, which was when Jake had tuned him out. There were only eight people he had any amount of interest in seeing whose team they would be one, and they have yet to be called on.

The key word being in that sentence being 'yet'.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR," Jake rolls his eyes as he thinks back to the golden chess pieces. _"Yeah, cause gold and white are totally the same,"_ He scoffs as Nora hugs Ren. Then the grey-haired headmaster continues. "Led by, Jaune Arc. Congratulations young man," Ozpin says to a startled Jaune…who is then knocked to the ground by a 'playful' slug to the shoulder by his redheaded partner, Pyrrha. Jake maintains a stoic appearance while others laugh at the blonde as the second-to-last four-member team leaves the stage. Four distinctive girls then step onto the stage.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY," At this pause, the _Jäger_ arches an eyebrow at that fact that Ruby's first name is also the name of her team. "Led by, Ruby Rose." A stunned Ruby is hugged by an ecstatic Yang.

"I'm so proud of you!"

Ozpin quickly clears his throat, indicating that he is not finished yet with the creation of the teams for the latest batch of students of Beacon Academy. With a sigh, Jake straightens his body as he secures his rifle, having slung it over his back just before he had left the bathroom. As he walks to the stage, a wave catches his eye. He nods his head ever-so slightly as a way of congratulating the red-hooded team leader as he approaches the stage with the greatest amount of (barely) hidden reluctance.

"This year we have a unique occasion. A last-moment applicant was accepted but this made the number of students entering their first year of training an odd number. With his consent, I have assigned him the distinction of being Beacon's only one-member team, and possibly the only one within at least a century, probably more. Jake, you shall be Team JÄGER." Jake nods his head slightly to the (at least in his opinion) annoying coffee addict as the room is filled with an awkward silence. In fact, only one other person makes a sound.

"GO JAKE!" An energetic Ruby shouts. WBY, and Team JNPR, quickly follow up her example with an energetic round of applause. The action is quickly copied by the other students, though it is at best half-heartedly. Jake ignores it, not giving a damn about the whispers. He had done more for Remnant than most of them combined. He doesn't need their approval, only his own. He barely hears Ozpin's final words.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an…interesting year."

 **That night…**

Jake hangs up his finally-clean cloak on the hook attacked to the back of his dorm room. He had been given a standard-sized room, with three other beds that will be empty for the next four years. He had also gathered a fair amount of his stored bullets, including the rest of his precious anti-Grimm rounds. His supply had taken a severe hit today. At least it resulted in a lot of dead Grimm. Unfortunately, the _Jäger_ is now left with eighty-eight such bullets. The fact that Ozpin had ordered a large amount of tungsten (free of charge, thankfully) mitigates this, but only slightly as it will still take time to craft more bullets.

In the meantime, he has about four hundred regular bullets, and a little over a hundred of his early ammunition, low-lethal 'training' rounds. These ones will be the ones Jake plans to use whenever he is sparring against non-Grimm foes. His saber rests next to the window, his beloved rifle and its sword bayonet close to it. Aside from weapons and bullets, the room is almost entirely barren. Since Jake had nothing but the clothes on his back when he was captured, the school had given him a pair of sleepwear to make due for now, in addition to his school uniform. At least the clothes are plain.

It is late and the _Jäger_ is finally starting to feel the effects of today's adventure in full force. However, there is one last thing he desires to do. Going over to the small cork board he had requested, Jake quickly pins his nearly-undamaged collection of photographs back up, hiding the small board underneath his bed for safekeeping. Finally finished with his goals, the captured assassin lays down on his bed, closing his eyes. As sleep overtakes him, one last thought flashes through his mind.

" _I'm still coming after you Torchwick. Once I have set my sights on you, only death will stop them. And the only death I have planned is yours, and soon, your associates, whoever the hell they are. Beware."_

 **And done! Wrote most of this in the early hours of this fine morning of the eighteenth of January! Hope you enjoyed, and as always please leave a review, favorite, or simply follow my story. Can't believe that I have 30 followers and 19 favorites, you guys are the best! Until next time! Next chapter-First day of school, when Jake meets Team CRDL…what could possibly go wrong?**


	6. V Team JÄGER versus Team CRDL

**Jäger Chapter Five: Team JÄGER versus Team CRDL**

 **MorgothII: Hello everyone! Wanted to get ready for chapter six so I moved heaven and earth to finish chapter five and in record time for me when it comes to a chapter over two thousand words! Chocolate chip cookies to whoever gets the fighting reference from one of my favorite movies. Also, Anser Soranonokoribi is an OC of Lord Adhes who asked if she could make a cameo. Anyways, please enjoy! I own only Jake/** _ **Jäger**_ **.**

The shrill cry of a whistle causes a sleeping Jake to rouse. He raises an eyebrow when he hears several voices shout "BANZAI!" from the room next door. _"Why the hell does Ruby Rose have a whistle?"_ wonders an irate _Jäger_ as he starts to change into his school uniform. He stares at his cloak, mentally debating whether or not to put it on. While it is a source of comfort for the young teen, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to wear it to class. So with that thought in mind, he reluctantly decides to leave it behind. He buckles on his saber to his belt. The _Jäger_ then places the sword bayonet and its leather sheathe across his chest as part of his bandolier, which also carries fifteen bullets for his rifle.

Having finished his preparations, Jake slings the rifle over his shoulder and silently exits his room. He activates his semblance out of habit. Personally he never liked large crowds. Well, other than if he needed to throw off anyone trying to track/chase him in the past. He wanders around aimlessly, having about an hour before he has to deal with one of his two capturers, Professor Port about Grimm. After that he has a free period for some reason, history with Doctor Oobleck, and then lunch. Finally, he has a combat class taught by Ozpin's apparent second-in-command, Professor Glynda Goodwitch.

The _Jäger_ suddenly pauses. Up ahead the hall turns to the right. But it is not the section of the building that he is traveling through that has brought his walk to a halt. Rather, it is the sounds he hears from right around the corner. He grits his teeth when he recognizes what the kind of situation must be occurring to create those sounds. He creeps forward silently, the sounds of deriding laughter and cruel words, as well as the sounds of a single person trying to fight back. Jake pokes his head out slightly, eyeing the scene before him.

A very small girl is forced up against the wall by four taller boys. The source of her distress is the fox tail and ears that give away her status as a Faunus. Jake growls under his breath as he swiftly recognizes the members of Team CRDL. Russel Thrush, Lark Sky, Dove Bronzewing, and their mace-wielding leader, Cardin Winchester. Jake and the rest of the first-year students had swiftly discovered their disgust for Faunus, and thus going out of their way to torment them for something the poor boys and girls had no choice in being. The _Jäger_ hates bullies and bigots with a passion that is only (slightly) suppressed by his hatred for criminals.

"Freak!"

He quickly makes up his mind upon hearing Cardin's insult, refusing to be a useless bystander. While he can't kill the four jackasses, there are other effective methods at his disposal, including one provided by Beacon itself. He addresses the four idiots with his gruff tone, his face maintaining his typical stoic expression.

"Oi! You lot of bumbling bunch of baboons! Stop trying to impress that girl with your micro-dicks!"

Despite the situation, the small teen barely succeeds in hiding her smile as her four tormentors all wheel about with flushed faces. Inwardly, Jake is also smirking. If there is one thing he has learnt that bullies such as Team CRDL and profession criminals like Roman Torchwick have in common, it is that they have a sensitive ego. And the assassin has just delivered a massive bruise to the bigots. Cardin's eyes burn with anger as he addresses the newcomer.

"What was that?" The burnt orange-haired teen snarls. Jake doesn't even flinch.

"You pansies heard me. Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Like me. Or are you afraid of being beaten by a single student?" asks a sneering _Jäger_ in a gruff, taunting tone.

The girl's grin grows behind her hand as her former tormentor starts to splutter, his anger rapidly demolishing any attempts at cohesive thoughts. The sound of a gun being loaded ends her mirth, as well as silencing the mace-wielder and his teammates. With speed that would have probably impressed Ruby Rose, the _Jäger_ had un-slung his single-shot rifle and loaded in a bullet. The barrel is pointed towards the floor just in front of the bullies. Jake then breaks the verbal silence, his gruff tone even and bearing not even a minute trace of hesitation.

"Here's my offer: You leave the girl and this area alone with your bodies intact and can try to beat me to a pulp in Goodwitch's class this afternoon. Or the staff has to clean off of the wall four splattered brains. Your choice. You have three seconds."

The four boys quickly leave, shooting death glares at the rifleman as he lowers his rifle. Once he is sure they are out of range to hear him, Jake operates the lever underneath his gun's stock, lowering the large metal breech block and allowing the non-lethal training round to eject. Before it can hit the ground he catches it and slides it back into his vest. After closing the breech and shouldering the firearm, he looks at the small girl.

"You ok?" He grunts. She nods her head. The white color of her hair from the tips to halfway to her head, where it turns jet black, reminds him slightly of the annoyingly haughty Dust heiress Weiss Schnee. At her sides are two daggers. She nods her head, watching him with an analytical gaze. After a half minute, she answers.

"Yeah. Thanks. Were you really going to shoot them if they didn't leave?" Jake snorts at this.

"Sadly, no. I will be enjoying an afternoon of kicking their asses, however."

With that being said, the 17-year old resumes walking, this time towards his first class of the day. He doesn't turn around when the girl addresses him again.

"I'm Anser Soranonokoribi. Who are you?" Jake continues to walk, throwing the answer over his shoulder.

"I'm the _Jäger_."

 **That afternoon…**

Jake stands on the right side of the arena in Professor Goodwitch's classroom, facing the four boys of Team Cardin who are standing in a line straight across from him. To the side stands the blonde Huntress, eyeing the reluctant student with an unreadable expression. Teams RWBY and JNPR had decided to move towards the right to cheer on the _Jäger_ , along with a number of students and most of the Faunus in the class. And of course, Anser. The rest of the Faunus students, and a third of the class, sit in the middle of the class, refusing to be anywhere near the anti-Faunus CRDL, but unsure of the solo assassin. The rest of the human boys and girls are near the end overlooking the _Jäger_ 's opponents, either fans of the bigot team or simply wanting to see the captured vigilante beaten up.

News about the morning incident in the hallway between JÄGER and CRDL had spread like wildfire within the hour. By the time of lunch, the entire student body of the school had known of it. Rumors of bets and predictions of the battle were tossed about. Ruby had given him a look conveying good luck, which received a single nod of thanks from the challenger. Jake had weathered through the day with his typical stoic and gruff manner, speaking only when addressed by his unofficial partner (usually) or by teachers. He had also ignored the glares of the four bullies.

Jake had left the cafeteria a few minutes early. With some reluctance, he approached Goodwitch and informed her about the fight that would happen under her watch. After pretending to listen to a brief spiel about not threatening to kill his fellow students and maybe some other uninteresting (at least, in regards to him) topics, she had agreed to allow the fight as the first one of the school year. Once everyone was seated, she announced that Team JÄGER had challenged Team CRDL to a 1v4 fight.

A challenge that had been eagerly accepted.

There had only one unexpected stipulation. Cardin had demanded that no bullets would be used. Aside from Dove's longsword, none of the bullies had ranged weapons. To the surprise of every save for RWBY and JNPR, Jake had agreed to it without missing a beat. He had left all fifteen training bullets on his desk, and operated the lever of his gun to show Goodwitch that he hadn't pre-loaded his gun. Once this fact had been confirmed, Cardin, Russel, Dove, and Sky grabbed their weapons and also entered the arena.

Goodwitch went over the rules with a brisk tone. Then had the aura levels for the five teen boys appear on large holographic feeds for the audience. People quickly picked the side they wanted to root for and moved accordingly. The blonde then addresses the two sides.

"Jake, are you ready?" Jake doesn't answer verbally, instead choosing to simply nod his head. His gun rests on the floor right in front of him, the muzzle pointing to the roof as he holds the barrel near the iron sight attached at the end. Goodwitch then looks at his opponents.

"Cardin, is your team ready?" He also nods, a cocky smirk on his face as he addresses his opponent.

"This is going to be easy! Painless, too…for us. Lark, teach that punk a lesson," The armor-wearing bully says, pointing a finger at the _Jäger_ as he mimes several strikes with his mace. Lark Sky nods, readying his halberd as he moves across the floor.

Jake merely smiles at the approaching Lark, his face a mask as he places both hands over the muzzle of his gun, the wooden butt still resting on the floor. As the rest of his team, along with several of the other non-Faunus students as well, start to cheer the blue-haired bully, his caution quickly turns to confidence, expecting a quick win. Once he is in range, he gears up to swing his halberd with all his might. Aside from a silent Anser and a curious Ruby, no one notices the slight tensing of the _Jäger_ 's upper body.

Just as Lark is about ready to strike, the statue-still assassin becomes a blur of movement. Jake tosses his beloved rifle into the air slightly, grabbing the barrel while doing so before reversing the gun so that he was holding it like a baseball bat, with the solid wood butt of the gun being the top. He effortlessly swings the gun-turned-club at the unsuspecting member of team CRDL. Lark's weapon goes flying out of his hands as he stumbles backward slightly, stunned by the impact to the head. Before he can even shake his head, Jake strikes again with the wooden butt. This time the blow is to Lark's stomach. He groans slightly as what air he had left after the first strike is driven from his lungs. He bends over, his hands on his knees. With a final strike, Jake slams his rifle across the back of Lark's head, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. On the screen overhead, it is shown that Lark's aura has taken a huge hit, the red blinking showing that the bully is out of the fight.

Everyone falls quiet, eyeing the sole member of Team JÄGER. He calmly places his rifle on the floor, stepping over the limp bully. "Next," is all he says, his hands resting on the hilts of his saber and sword bayonet, but not drawing them just yet. Cardin is the first of the remaining trio to recover his wits.

"Russel, Dove, rush that bastard," the bigot bully hisses, trying a different tactic. The green-haired Dust dagger-wielder with a horrific Mohawk and the light brown-haired sword-wielder charge Jake. Due to his heavier armor, Dove lags behind just enough that Russel ends up attacking the assassin on his own.

The lone wolf takes a fighting stance, having still not drawn either his saber or his bayonet. A slight ghost of a smirk touches the corners of his mouth as he waits for the lightly-protected knife-fighter to strike. The teen makes a rapid series of strikes, both stabs and slashes. Against most opponents, Russel would probably have eventually overwhelmed their defenses. But the _Jäger_ is far from most opponents. And they made the mistake of assuming he needs his rifle to fight and only at long distances. They have failed to consider him being capable in hand-to-hand combat.

For the opening series of strikes, Jake simply moves his body backwards, narrowly dodging the daggers while appearing to having been forced to give ground. This eggs on Russel, causing him to continue his onslaught with greater energy, not realizing that his foe isn't struggling to avoid his strikes, that the close calls are actually an act, and that he is rapidly tiring himself out.

With Dove almost within striking range, the _Jäger_ strikes at another member of Team LAME (Sorry CRDL).

First Jake hits Russel in the throat, making sure to put in enough strength only to disable the idiot. If he hadn't wanted to kill the sorry sack of shit, he would have hit the same area harder, thus crushing the fragile windpipe and causing the victim to suffocate. When the green-haired bully stumbles, Jake follows up with a quick barrage of punches to the gut, bending the boy over. The brown-haired teen coldly places a hand on either side of Russel's head and quickly smashes his left knee into the boy's forehead three times. What was left of his aura is gone as he falls limply to the floor, twitching sporadically.

Jake doesn't get a moment to relax, however, as Dove finally enters the fray. With a hoarse yell of fury over the humiliation of his team so far, the bully swings his longsword at the seemingly insolent assassin's neck. At the same time that Dove began to swing, Jake's right hand went to the hilt of his well-maintained saber, gripping it firmly. With a steady hand and expression, Jake pulls the hilt.

With a shrill ring, the saber is freed from its protective sheathe.

With a clang of steel, the swing of Dove's blade is brought to a halt by Jake's. Dove swings again, and once more Jake deftly deflects it. Dove knows he is good with his sword, but he also knows that he isn't great with it, never having a duel where he won on his own using solely the sword, and not firing any bullets.

Despite having this in mind, Dove still tries to defeat the _Jäger_. To his credit, he puts up a better fight than either of his two fallen teammates did. But not much. After thirty seconds or so of parries and failed strikes, a panting Dove is unaware that he has loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword. Jake doesn't fail to notice this, however. With a fierce slash, he uses his saber, now slightly notched from the various impacts the steel had received while parrying his opponent's longsword, knocks the blade clean out of an exhausted Dove's hand.

The brown-haired bully doesn't have to worry about retrieving it right away, however. As the boy looks down at his now empty hands with a stunned expression on his sweating face, Jake takes a step forward and slams the hilt of his sword against Dove's right temple hard. While not lethal, it does have the desired effect. The boy's eyes roll up slightly as a faint groan escapes from his lips. Then he falls onto his back, out cold. His aura is now in the red as well, indicating that Dove Bronzewing is also out of the fight.

" _And then there was only one,"_ Jake thinks to himself as he looks down at the fallen swordsman. A few seconds later, Jake realizes he made a slight mistake.

Cardin Winchester is many things. Lazy, racist, a jackass, closed and narrow-minded, a bully, arrogant, but he is certainly not weak. At least, not physically. He is, however, an opportunist. While his last teammate had been distracting the normally-cloaked rifleman, he had managed to sneak up on the _Jäger_. Once he sees that the 17-year old is distracted after defeating Dove, Cardin strikes.

The next second Jake finds himself a few feet away from where he had been standing, his saber knocked out of his hands. His chest is also hurting. _"Damn. Nothing broken, thankfully, but that lumbering oaf probably bruised a rib or two. Note to self: Look at making armor for yourself."_ He looks at a grinning Cardin as he approaches the fallen assassin, his mace resting against his shoulder.

"You may have given us a tough fight, brat, but now it is time to say lights out. Anything you want to say?"

To Cardin's pleasure, the boy nods. He approaches the kid, stopping right before his feet, raising his mace over his head. He smirks at Jake, already tasting victory.

"So what is it?"

"You got balls of steel?"

As Cardin raises an eyebrow at this seemingly absurd comment, he doesn't realize that Jake's right foot has just moved backwards.

"What do you-"

Cardin never finishes that sentence as Jake's foot slams forward. His eyes widen and bulge as he drops his mace. A high-pitch squeal that would be better suited to a girl escapes his lips, making Jaune's screams from yesterday sound very manly. Every one of the males winces in pain as Cardin drops to his knees. His hands clutch at the area between his legs, his head hanging down. Before he can even look back up, he suddenly feels one hand roughly grasp the hair on the back of his head. Before he can protest at the further pain, a cold sensation presses down against his throat.

"You should yield while you still can," Whispers the gruff voice of Jake as he holds his bayonet against Cardin's throat. He makes sure to keep the edge away from the skin, nodding at Professor Goodwitch to make the call on if Cardin is still in the fight. She nods her head in understanding before clearing her throat.

"And I believe that ends the fight. The winner is Mister Jake of Team JÄGER. Next time, though, I would advise you to try restraining yourself from that last maneuver. You all may return to your seats. Team JNPR, could you help Cardin escort his team to the nurse's office?"

As the requested team departs with smiles on their faces at the defeated pricks of Team CRDL, Jake silently retrieves his saber and rifle, placing his weapons away as he returns to his seat. He is showered with congratulations but ignores them. He knew what he is capable of. In fact, he would have been immensely surprised if he had lost that match, with or without his bullets. Anser rushes up to him, wide-eyed. The slightly winded teen eyes her with slight interest. While she appears to have something akin to surprise on her face it isn't shocked surprise. Rather, it is impressed surprise.

"You fight well," She says, her tone indicating that she would like to know how he did so well. He sighs, giving a vague answer to get her off his back for a while.

"Show no fear, but also have no fear to hold you back. Value your life and your weapons. And fight for what is right."

With hat, he parts ways with the small girl, unsure if they will cross paths again. Not that he is bothered one way or the other.

Suddenly he is confronted by a red cape-wearing speedster with silver eyes that gleam with awe. "Holy cow, that was AWESOME!" Ruby says excitedly. Inwardly sighing, Jake does indeed give her a nod of thanks once again. As she heads back to her team, he shakes his head slightly at her. _"I swear, that girl is really starting to grow on me. Not sure what to think about that. At least I got to smash some skulls today. Got stay ready for when Torchwick makes his next move."_

 **And done! Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will take place a couple of months later, and you better be prepared for the ending of chapter six! As always, enjoy, favorite, follow, review, or simply leave your thoughts/opinion down below! See you in Chapter Six: Revelations!**


	7. VI Revelations

**Jäger Chapter Six: Revelations**

Three months.

It had been three months since Jake had been captured. Three months since he met the energetic but occasionally awkward red-and-black haired girl known as Ruby Rose. Three months of attending Beacon under duress. Three months since kicking Team CRDL's ass. Three months of mostly useless schoolwork about knowledge and history he either already knew or (for only a very small part of it very recently and as under the nickname of the _Jäger_ ) been a part of it.

Surprisingly, it could have been a lot worse.

That thought causes Jake to shiver slightly as he hunches over his work desk, alternating between drawing plans for his suit of armor and making some brand-new tungsten-core anti-Grimm rounds for his beloved rifle. A gift from Team RWBY, as a sort of apology for the noise they have made that disrupted his concentration as work, a pair of blue ear buds, plays music in his ears. Currently, he is listening to a song that Ruby had picked out and interestingly enough, had been the song playing when the Dust shop she was in was robbed by Roman Torchwick, who he had been about to kill before being interrupted by the headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin.

He will admit, it does seem to be a good song to listen to. After a month of trying to get the silver-eyed scythe wielder to bug off, Jake had (for the first time in years) finally given up. If there is one thing Ruby has, it is determination. Seeing that trying to avoid her wasn't working, the reluctant student had decided that it would be for the best to be…friendly to her. And to a slightly lesser extent, the rest of Team RWBY. He isn't sure if he would call the 15-year old girl a friend, though. He shakes his head in slight irritation as he finishes making another anti-Grimm round.

As the song ends, Jake turns his head to his dorm room's door at the sound of knocking. There are only two people who would be at his door, and of which there is only one of them that he has zero interest in shooting. Considering that it is a Friday afternoon and that he had been keeping a low profile, Jake highly doubts that it is Ozpin. "Enter!" He says evenly, dropping his normal gruff tone. He takes out the ear buds and grabs a rag to wipe off his hands.

Sure enough, it is a smiling Ruby who opens the wooden door.

"Hey Jake," She says cheerfully. Said teen nods his head slightly, grunting out a greeting in return.

"Weiss is having us go down to the docks in a few minutes. Something about a ship arriving at the dock carrying students from Vacuo for the Vytal Festival. You wanna come along?"

A ghost of a smile touches the corners at the offer. For a brief second he actually considers accepting. _"Damn it! What the fuck is wrong with you? You're a lone wolf, remember?"_ But is that true anymore? Jake shakes his head. "No thanks. Got to work on my armor design. Catch you later," He says, only a trace of his characteristic gruffness present.

"Oh, ok. Well, have fun! Catch you later!"

With that, she closes the door, leaving the _Jäger_ to his work. He does with vigor, trying to put his frustration over what he perceives as him going soft due to being the unofficial partner of Ruby Rose. _"Damn Ozpin,"_ He growls as he finishes the helmet design.

Time goes by quickly when he hears an alarm go off on his scroll. An alarm he hadn't used since he had been captured. _"Wonder what he wants?"_ With that thought in mind, Jake opens the device to see a message on the holographic screen.

 _Have information regarding R. Meet me at the club in an hour. Try to be subtle-Junior_

A smile takes its place on his lips. The hungry smirk of a predator that has discovered the trail of a wounded animal. The game is finally afoot once more. Or at least, that is what he hopes for.

 **One hour later…**

Jake enters the unusually empty club owned by Hei Xiong, or Junior. He wears his normal clothes minus the tattered brown cloak, having switched it out for a trench coat that he had bought last month for undercover work, such as now. He left his normal weapons in his room, not wanting to draw attention to himself as being the _Jäger_ or to Junior. After all, Jake eneds an information broker who is alive, not dead. Though, from what he had heard from Yang one night, he really, really needs to improve on his security.

"Mister Jake!"

Speak of the devil. Junior is dressed in his normal outfit, though he is standing behind the bar, two empty shot glasses in front of him, along with a bottle of beer. None of his employees are here, save for his two personal bodyguards, the twin raven-haired girls Melanie and Miltiades Malachite. Jake always gets the two confused, but he doesn't really care which one is the one who fights with bladed heels while wearing white and which one is red and carries claws as weapons. He makes his way to Junior, his face looking like it was carved from a statue.

"Come, sit! Drink?"

Jake shakes his head before replying. "Nah, kicked the habit not too long ago. So what do you have for me?" Inside he relishes the fact that he can be completely gruff once more. Here, while Junior may own the club, he more or less owns Junior, or at least his loyalty. After all, with such shitty bouncers, the man would have been driven out of business within a week if it hadn't been that the _J_ _ä_ _ger_ saw a useful ally (note pawn) in hunting the top dogs of the underground crime network.

Junior takes a moment to pour himself a shot of the beer, chugging it down in a single gulp. "Ah, that is some good stuff. Just like the information I've got to tell you," He says, tweaking the patience of his 'boss' with an amused smirk. Jake takes a deep breath.

"Information. Now."

Junior places the glass down on the table before raising his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, fine. As blunt as ever. So, remember when Torchwick hired four of my boys to assist him in robbing a Dust ship three months back?" Jake doesn't say anything, giving him a deadpan stare. Junior winces slightly when he realizes mistake.

"Right…of course you do. Well, there has been a large string of robberies all connected to Torchwick and Dust. You were right, by the way. It seems that the White Fang has formed some sort of partnership with Roman. One of my informants in the White Fang has confirmed that there is going to be a massive raid on the docks tomorrow night. A huge shipment of Dust, courtesy of the Schnee Dust Company. Roman himself will be there."

"Your source is sure?"

"Tuskon never lies. He knows that bad information means bad business."

"And he won't rat you out?"

Again Junior nods his head with confidence. "Not with the amount of Lien I had paid him. Worst case scenario, he runs off in a couple of months. He runs a cover job as the owner of Tuskon's books."

Jake nods, grabbing several hundred-Lien notes and placing it on the table between them. "Half the agreed payment for information. As this is personal, I will pay you the rest, and maybe even a bonus, Sunday evening. Deal?"

This time it is Junior who snorts. "It's not like I have the choice to say no. You call the shots, remember?" Jake grins, his eyes completely cold as he observes his secret information broker.

"Good. Just wanted to make sure you remember that," With that, Jake stands up and starts to walk to the door. He stops when Junior speaks up again.

"Hey, how's Beacon by the way?"

Jake takes a moment to make up his mind. If it had been during the first month, he would have said that it had been an absolutely horrid situation. But now it is different. Again, he is not sure if he should be comfortable by that or absolutely alarmed. Remembering that he should just answer the damn question and leave before anyone can realize who he is and then connect Junior to him, he makes up his mind.

"It's been…bearable. Just remember, if anyone comes knocking for information regarding Torchwick, tell them as little as possible. And do not mention our association at all. In fact, just say that he hired some of your boys and stick with that. Clear?"

"Of course."

"Good. Word of advice: If a blonde girl named Yang drops by, don't piss her off again. You have no idea how much I am making an understatement when I say that you were lucky after she trashed this place." With that being said, the _Jäger_ quickly exits the temporarily closed-down club and heads to Beacon.

 **Later…**

"There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like _you_ , that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?!"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!"

Jake growls as he is forced to listen to the argument going on next door. After arriving back at Beacon without being seen, he had taken a nap, wanting to make sure he was well-rested for tomorrow night. The _Jäger_ plans on leaving early in the morning, before others are awake. Using his stealth semblance, he would sneak off of the school's grounds and make for the docks, grabbing some food along the way once he was in town. After that, he would set up shop in the maze of storage containers and cranes, waiting for the damned orange-haired, hat-wearing, cigar-smoking, cane-wielding bastard to show up. And this time, there would be no Ozpin, no Ruby Rose, no one, who would stop him from delivering his justice. Ozpin would disapprove, but to hell with the coffee-addict. Damn the consequences and full speed ahead.

That plan, however, is being slightly mauled by the shouting match between Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna. "Fucking hell," He says to himself tersely as he stands up, heading over to the door. He isn't surprise to find that one of the girls of Team RWBY to be in a shouting match is the Dust heiress, but he is slightly taken aback by the normally quiet and reserved book-reader who is Yang's partner. That must mean that it isn't a petty matter, or at least, not to Blake.

That still doesn't make the _Jäger_ any less aggravated by the noise.

He throws the door open, walking over to the door next door. With a frustrated growl, he raps his knuckle against the wooden panels. The sound of raised voices doesn't die down, however. Thankfully, Jake is received by the door being open slightly. An uncomfortable-looking Ruby pokes her head out.

"Oh, hey Jake. Um, sorry?" Jake sighs. Why is it so damn hard to be angry at the red-and-black haired girl?

"What's going on?"

"Weiss and Blake are having an argument over the White Fang and Faunus. I don't think there's anything Yang or I can do about it right now," She says in an apologetic tone, clearly uncomfortable at the situation. Jake sighs again, maintaining his temper. He nods his head in understanding.

"Very well. I guess I'll just use those ear buds you guys gave me. Good luck with those two."

"Yeah. Good night Jake."

"Night Ruby."

With that, Jake heads back to his room while Ruby closes her dorm's door. Tomorrow is so going to be worth it when he doesn't have to listen to either of those two continuing to bicker at all. Nope, not one single bit. It'll be like the good old days, where he was a lone wolf looking out only for himself, and delivering justice to crime lords and top gang enforcers. It will probably be the last one for four years, so he plans on enjoying the complete solitude to the fullest extent.

 **The next night…**

Blake grbas Roman Torchwick by the shoulder, Gambol Shroud pressing against his throat. Torchwick instinctively tenses his body, caught off guard.

"What the-oh for f-" He starts, rolling his eyes slightly as he starts to curse.

Blake cuts him off before he can finish swearing. "Nobody move!" She says, her voice hard. One of the White Fang soldiers raises his rifle. A scraping sound indicates that the second masked Faunus has unsheathed his sword. Torchwick speaks up again.

"Whoa, take it easy there, little lady," He says as two more members of the White Fang appear. One carries another rifle, while the second carries two swords. For a few seconds it looks like a stalemate. The cat Faunus member of Team RWBY reaches for her black bow, preparing to remove it and reveal her black cat ears. The air is tense as her hand slowly grips the black cloth.

Suddenly, a loud _crack_ breaks the tension. The eyes of Blake, Roman, and three White Fang members all widen as the center of the single sword-armed Faunus rapidly turns form white to red. The dying terrorist looks down at his chest as he falls to his knees, not understanding what had just happened. With a gurgle, the member of the White Fang slumps forward into a growing pool of blood, completely lifeless.

For a second, all is silent. Then Blake's hidden cat ears twitch slightly as she hears the faint sound of footsteps somewhere up ahead. To other ears, it would have been extremely difficult to pick up. The other Faunus nearby also picks up the sound as it draws closer. But everyone hears the sound of a gun being reloaded. The others don't recognize it, but Blake does, causing her already-wide amber eyes to nearly bug out of her skull. _"What is he doing here?"_

Her superb night vision quickly picks out a cloaked form of a human male approaching them. His upper body and face are hidden by the shadows of the large Schnee Dust cargo crates, but retreat rapidly as he continues to move closer. His long rifle is aimed slightly towards the gun, appearing to be casual, but ready to be used in an instant. Blake gasps as she realizes who it is, while Roman Torchwick's green eyes narrow. His well-used saber jingles in its now-leather coated sheathe. His sword bayonet is in its own sheath across his chest. With a final, ominous step, the teen readies his single-shot black powder rifle. His usually stoic face is contorted in rage and disgust as he addresses the silent, mostly stunned crowd.

"Good night, gentlemen, Blake. Sorry to drop in unannounced, but I had some business to take care of. Very personal business. Wouldn't you agree, _father_?"

 **And there we have it! The first of several big reveals! Same thing about reviewing, etcetera, as always, thank you guys so much for taking the time out of your busy days to read my story, really mean it! Next time: Jake versus Roman. Until next time!**


	8. VII Jake versus Roman

**Jäger Chapter Seven: Jake versus Roman**

" _Father?!"_

That one word plays itself over and over in Blake's head for a few seconds. Finally, she is the first one to break the silence.

"J-Jake?"

Her voice trembles slightly, mostly in shock, but with some slight traces of fear. After all, Ruby had told her teammates about the fact that Jake and the assassin known as the _Jäger_ are one and the same. A lot of people suspected it, but only a handful of students knew that it was the truth. The amber-eyed girl also notices the look in the teen's brown eyes. She had seen it a fair number of times near the end of her time being in the White Fang.

The look of someone who is ready to kill.

"Blake, let him go and leave. Now."

"Hello, what's this? The cowardly baby now has a spine?"

"Shut up."

"Too bad you didn't have one when your mom needed help," Roman sneers.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Blake gulps silently. The anger and hatred that she sees on Jake's face makes an angry Yang look mildly irked. Meanwhile, Roman Torchwick laughs, a cruel smirk gracing his features. Jake takes a deep breath, trying to not do anything rash. _"Don't let him bait you so easily,"_ He mentally scolds himself.

"Blake, Let go of Roman and move now."

"You might want to listen to what my son has to say, little lady," Sneers Torchwick.

"Jake, wha-"

"Blake, I am only going to tell you this one more time. You have five seconds to let go of that bastard and step away. Because in five seconds I am going to shoot that damn son of a bitch in the throat, and to hell with it if you get hurt. One."

Blake doesn't move, her eyes widen in horror at the implications of what is about to happen.

"Two."

Torchwick subtly nods to one of the trio of White Fang soldiers nearby. He presses a button on his wrist, activating a signal.

"Three."

Blake finally breaks out of her stunned shock. She shouts at the solo member of Team JÄGER. Desperation is thick in her voice.

"Jake! Don't do this!"

"Fou-" He never gets to finish the countdown. A loud sound is heard, the sound of jet engines. Five bullhead transports appear overhead. The two students are briefly blinded by the bright lights. As a result, they don't notice Torchwick's growing smirk as he activates the projectile system of Melodic Cudgel. A large blast goes off as he shoots directly at the ground Blake is standing on. A huge cloud of black smoke billows into the air. Blake grunts slightly as she is thrown back, landing on her side with a soft grunt.

"Fuck," Jake growls gruffly under his breath as his father is obscured in the ad hoc smokescreen. The three Faunas terrorists, however, do emerge. For the pissed off _Jäger_ , they will do for a start of tonight's killing. He raises his beloved black powder rifle. He calmly aims the iron sight mounted at the end of the muzzle with the white mask, similar to one of a Grimm minus the glowing red eyes, of the lone dual sword-wielding Faunus in the center.

He pulls the trigger back, slightly harder than normal due to his barely-maintained anger at yet another teen interrupting his administration of ultimate justice to his damn father. Inside the gun breech, the metal striker hits the primer, setting off a small explosion that begins a chain reaction. The explosive black powder that is inside each of his bullets quickly ignites. Tremendous forces push the solid lead bullet out of the gun, spinning slightly due to the grooves inside the rifle barrel.

A half-second later, he is rewarded with a hit. The white plastic mask simply explodes as the standard-core round ignores the feeble level of facial protection and a spray of grey and red mist erupts from the head. Before the second rifle-bearing Faunas can even raise his weapon up, Jake has already inserted a fresh cartridge from his left wrist-mounted mini-ammo belt, to allow for a faster reload against a group of enemies closing in. A second pull causes the solid lead bullet to slam right into the targeted White Fang's right shoulder right at the base of the neck, sending him spinning to the ground as the bullet goes through him. Instantly blood soaks the wounded area, as the bullet has sliced through the right internal jugular vein. If it isn't treated soon, the unlucky terrorist will first go into shock, and then died from sheer blood loss.

By now the third Faunus arrives. He lets out a war cry as he tries to sink his two sword blades into Jake's chest, eager to avenge the death of three of his brethren. It is not to be. His anger (barely) under control, the _Jäger_ 's reactions are just as swift and lethal as before. He slams the wooden foregrip of his rifle (along with the steel barrel) into the bladed weapons, halting them. Before his attacker can recover, he slams the side of the butt against his right shoulder, spinning the White Fang member's arms to the side as he tries to steady himself. Jake lunges forward with the heavy butt, slamming it directly in the center of his opponent's Grimm-like mask.

The heavy impact smashes both the cheap plastic and the terrorist's nose. The Faunus is either dead or unconscious. For Jake, either will work well for him. He cocks an ear, trying to pinpoint any kind of sound that only his bastard of a father would make. A mirthless smile takes its place on his lips as he hears the distinct sound of Roman's cane going off in a rapid succession, undoubtedly having been aimed at Blake. As much as he hates her guts at the moment for intruding on his personal mission, he will admit, that girl's got talent if she isn't dead yet.

Or Roman Torchwick really, really sucks at fighting anything at or above a Hunter/Huntress-in-training. Or both.

Probably both.

The sound of one of the bullheads hovering overhead is followed by the sound of a hatch opening up. Ropes are thrown down as a ten-man squad of rifle-bearing White Fang operators rappel down to the dock. Meanwhile, Jake has moved back into the shadowy maze of the Schnee Dust Company containers. After the squad leader sends two of his men to carry the heavily-wounded swords-wielding Faunus to the bullhead for medical treatment, one of the eight remaining terrorists collapses to the ground. A split second later, a loud bang is heard.

"SNIPER!"

"Does anyone see him?!"

"It came from over there!"

The squad leader barely makes out the flutter of a brown cloak at the top of a pile of SDC crates. His squad follows his hand and readies their guns in the direction the appendage is pointing towards.

"OPEN FRIE!"

A hail of gunfire rips a series of new holes into the fabric. The squad leader holds up his hand.

"Crim, check it out," the deer Faunus orders, pointing at a cat Faunus. Said terrorist nods and begins to move up the crates when suddenly the side of his head explodes as a second report of a rifle, the same one from earlier, is heard. The limp body lands with a sickening thud at on the surface of the dock, blood leaking out.

"Shit, we gotta get out of here!"

The speaker, a female turtle Faunus, cries out in a terrified voice, breaking formation in a bid to return to the perceived safety of the bullhead that had dropped them off. The squad leader, now hiding behind a SDC container knocked over by a stray shot from Torchwick's cane, turns his head to his fleeing subordinate. "Verde, get back here!"

She doesn't respond, instead quickly closing the gap between her and their transport. The terrorist quickly begins to climb up one of the ropes still dangling from the open cargo compartment. The Faunus is halfway up when the deer terrorist hears another dreaded report of their opponent's rifle. He looks at his surely-doomed fellow terrorist, expecting her to drop limply to the ground. To his surprise, Verde continues her climb to what she believes will be safety from the hidden sniper.

Then the bullhead starts to wobble. Looking at the cockpit, the Faunus terrorist sees what the rifleman was aiming for. A bright red splotch covers the glass surrounding the cockpit. Before the co-pilot can regain control of the bullhead, another bang causes the co-pilot's head to disappear in a second gory mist. Now out of control, the bullhead suddenly moves forward, Verde hanging on to her rope for dear life, screaming bloody murder. Her screams are cut off when the out-of-control flying vehicle smashes into several of the tall yellow cranes used to unload the massive cargo ships that frequent the port of Vale. A fireball erupts, sending even more thick smoke towards the sky.

"VERDE!" screams an avian Faunus. He stands up in horror and presenting a clear view of his upper torso. Before one of the surviving squad members can pull the White Fang member back to the ground, he stumbles backwards. The terrorist's hands are clutching his throat as a bloody froth coats his lips as he starts to make disgusting gurgling sounds as he slumps to the ground. The squad leader and his three remaining subordinates crouch down even further. Yet another gunshot is heard, the round bouncing off of the metal container. This is quickly followed by a second, with eh same results. One of the rifle-bearing terrorists, a dog Faunus, speaks up.

"Sir, what do we do?"

"Good evening, boys," Says a stone-faced _Jäger_ , who had been using his semblance to mask his running once he had shot the bird Faunus. His almost-always present cloak is absent, still tied to a box as a decoy. He crouches at the top of the container, his single-shot weapon pointed at the head of the speaker. Said Faunus barely manages to see the gun barrel before a lead bullet smashes his skull apart. Before the three remaining White Fang operators can recover, Jake throws his until-now unused sword bayonet at one of the two remaining opponents of a lower rank. It embeds itself right in the throat of one of them, sinking all the way down to the hilt. Even as the body slumps to the sound silently, a ringing of steel echoes as the forced Beacon student jumps down between the last two fighters, saber drawn.

In a blink of an eye, the squad leader watches as the throat of the last member of his squad is sliced clean open, the body falling backwards as a thin arc of blood squirts out of the wound. He raises his rifle and prepares to pull the trigger when Jake sinks the blade of his saber into his exposed gut. The assault rifle slips out of the antlered man's fingers as he falls to his knees, hands clutching at the wound once his soon-to-be-killer's weapon has been withdrawn. He lets out a gasp, his eyes wide with fear even as they begin to appear glassy behind his mask.

"Wh-who are you?"

The query draws an emotionless stare from the teen as he readies his saber to deliver the _Coup de grâce_. He says only three words to the dying White Fang member.

"I'm the _Jäger_."

Then the blade slices through the air and into the neck, not stopping for even a fraction of a second as it tears through muscle, flesh, and blood vessels until it exits through the other side. With a hollow thud, the severed head smacks onto the pier, the body falling onto its side. Jake takes a second to wipe the gore clean from both his bladed weapons on the relatively pristine white tunic of the slain squad leader, before sheathing the saber and attaching the bayonet to the muzzle of his rifle, a fresh bullet having already been chambered.

The lone wolf looks back towards where he last saw Roman Torchwick and Blake. A short ways away, the cat Faunus who is Yang's partner and a monkey-tailed Faunus teen boy are fighting a flustered Roman. He fires a shot at a SCD crate that is conveniently hanging over the two teens and causes it to fall, slamming into he ground and causing the duo to separate as they dodge in different directions. The monkey-boy looks up as Roman prepares to blow the boy's brains out with Melodic Cudgel when yet another voice both of the Torchwick recognize.

"HEY!"

" _Oh, for the love of everything explosive…"_

That is the first thought that pops into Jake's head as he stares at the form of his unofficial partner, her red cape flutters in the wind as she steps to the edge of the roof she is standing on, as she slams the tip of her giant scythe onto the cement said roof is made of. He can barely manage to see her silver eyes flash in determination as she gazes at the bowler hat-wearing master thief who she had met (and stopped his robbery of a dust store) on a fateful night three months ago.

Ruby Rose.

He instantly starts to run at his father, his heart pumping streams of adrenaline. He closes the gap rapidly, intent on finishing his father once and for all. _"I am_ not _going to allow someone else to interrupt me tonight!"_ Jake doesn't notice the freckled, orange-haired girl standing behind Ruby until he notices her turning around. Something one should never do when they have Roman's attention. Seeing that the red-and-black haired girl focus is elsewhere, Roman smirks as he fires a single shot from his cane. The hood-wearing scythe wielder is knocked onto her back, out of the _Jäger_ 's sight as he closes in on the man he has the misfortune to have for a father.

"RUBY!" He shouts, concerned about the girl who he now tolerates. He isn't sure why, though. In shouting and briefly looking at the building Ruby is on, however, Jake makes the same mistake. He turns around to see that Melodic Cudgel had been aimed at him, Torchwick's smirk now directed at him as a round is about to hit the teen. _"Fuck me,"_ He groans, his brain berating him for making such a stupid mistake. Then he is thrown backwards, slamming right into a metal cargo container. His gun lands on his lap as his head slumps forward, and Jake falls unconscious, the last sound he hears being his father's cackle.

 **A few minutes later…**

Roman growls as he latches the hooked end of his cane to the edge of the bullhead that he had just boarded. Overall, tonight was a sheer fuck-up. And once again by a group of fucking kids. "These kids just keep getting weirder," He mutters to himself. At least he managed to piss off his son. He grins to himself, having just thought of an idea to screw with him some more. He shouts out to that annoying scythe wielding teenager.

"Hey, Red! Sorry I can't stay any longer, but I've left you with a consolation prize! Over there is my useless son! Feel free to take him in!" He taunts, pointing at the limp form of Jake. Then he closes the hatch and escapes.

Ruby frowns at the two retreating bullheads. At least she found Blake, the silver eyed 15-year-old reasons to herself. Then she realizes who the figure lying against the container is. She gasps slightly, her eyes wide. "W-what?" She stutters. Ruby quickly secures a now-folded up Crescent Rose to the back of her belt before rushing to the _Jäger_ , a trail of rose petals behind her as she activates her speed semblance.

By the time she gets there, she notices Jake's eyelids fluttering slightly as he wakes up. "Ow, that is going to fucking hurt in the morning," He mutters gruffly, unaware of the girl standing over him.

"Jake, why didn't you tell us you were related to Roman?" She asks, still stunned by the mentioned thief's parting taunt. Ruby winces internally as she sees his body stiffen, knowing that he has just became aware of her presence.

"Don't follow me," He says, quickly standing up and gently nudging her aside, his rifle in his hand. Ruby is about to follow him when a hand gently grips her left shoulder, retraining the leader of Team RWBY. Looking back, her silver eyes meet the sad amber eyes of Blake.

"Let him go for now. Let's wait for the others before we go looking for him," She says gently. A very reluctant Ruby nods her head as Sun and Penny walk over to the duo. Police car sirens grow louder and louder as emergency responders finally begin to arrive at the now-quiet battleground. Ruby does notice the fact that Jake has left his precious cloak behind, and quickly grabs it, folding the torn fabric up so that the police don't confiscate it. She can't wait for Weiss and Yang to arrive so that the heiress and the Faunus can make up and the four of them can find and talk to Jake.

Meanwhile, Jake ducks and weaves through the shadowy labyrinth, his mind rushing to find a suitable hiding place. He knows that he will have to return o Beacon by Monday morning, and that he can't hide at either Junior's club or his former sewer-based lair. But there is one place they shouldn't expect him to go to. Besides, he has been meaning to make a stop there for some time, and tonight's conversation with his cruel father makes the visit have an even greater importance for him.

"Damn it all to hell," He harshly whispers to himself as he heads off to the local cemetery, clutching his rifle close to his chest.

 **And done! This might be my last chapter until school starts on Wednesday. Speaking of that day of the week starting next week I plan on trying to post one chapter every Wednesday. Of course, this is only a tentative plan as being a high school senior in the second semester really sucks. Anyways, one other reminder: E-mail Guest, I wasn't able to see your email due to not allowing the posting of online mail addresses, if you wish for more updates, you must place your email in blocks and not include the at sign so I can (hopefully) see it. Also this weekend we reached one thousand visitors! Thank you so much guys! Next chapter: Emotion Confrontation. See you guys next time! :)**


	9. VIII Emotional Confrontation

**Jäger Chapter Eight: Emotional Confrontation**

 **MorgothII: Hello! Just a quick note, shout-out to whoever correctly names the movie that has the same quote as I referenced here. Also, a big thanks to my little sister BlueMountainFairey for reading the entire story AND leaving reviews for each chapter in a single night! Anyways, have fun and enjoy!**

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" cries a jubilant Ruby Rose, pumping her hands into the air excitedly. Her three other teammates, plus Blake's new friend Sun, all smile and take a step closer, the previous argument between Weiss and Blake having been ended for good. Weiss points a single finger in Sun's face in an accusatory manner.

"I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you," She warns a startled Sun in a slightly haughty tone. The blonde monkey Faunus chuckles nervously as Ruby takes a look around, suddenly noticing something. She speaks up.

"Hey, wait a minute. Where's Penny?'

For a few seconds Team RWBY (and Sun) looks around for their newly-acquired friend. But the curious orange-haired girl that had helped drive off Roman Torchwick has mysteriously disappeared. Sun leaves soon after, wanting to check something out, so soon the four girls are left alone, Blake and Ruby having already given the witness statements requested by the Vale Police Department. At Yang's suggestion, the quartet of teens leaves the scene. They walk through the relatively empty streets of the city in silence for a few minutes. Then Ruby turns her silver eyes to Blake.

"Is it true about Jake and Roman?"

Yang and Weiss, having both been absent from the incident on the pier, give the other two girls quizzical looks, saying nothing. Blake bits her lower lip slightly, looking like she was being interrogated by her team leader about why Blake has a copy of _Ninjas of Love_. In a way, the cat-eared Faunus would actually prefer to be in that situation than the current one right now. Finally she exhales with a sigh and nods her head at the shorter girl.

"Yes, Jake even said the word."

Finally Yang raises her hands.

"Ok, hold up! I know Weiss and I were busy elsewhere in the city looking for you, Blake, but what is it you and Ruby are talking about? What is true about Roman Torchwick and Jake?"

The two girls being questioned exchange looks, trying to decide who should answer. Finally Blake decides to be the one who answers, seeing as how she was present for the whole thing. She inhales slightly as she begins to speak.

"When I was holding Torchwick captive, one of the White Fang members nearby was suddenly shot and killed. It turned out to be Jake. The look on his face…it was purely murderous. He actually addressed Torchwick as what he apparently is."

Weiss sighs. She may have made up with the raven-haired teen, but that doesn't mean the heiress is enjoying hearing the long version when the short could suffice. Plus, she is feeling a bit cranky from having searched for Blake for twelve hours straight, having paused only briefly to grab some food, which was then consumed as they continued walking around the city. "And that is?" Blake opens her mouth, but Ruby cuts her off.

"Jake is Roman Torchwick's son."

For a moment the brawler and heiress stare at their partners with stunned expressions on their faces. Then Yang bursts out laughing. After a minute or so, the blonde 17-year-old finally manages to control her outburst. "Jake is Roman's son? The _Jäger-_ the guy who has killed at least thirty people in the past-is the offspring of one of Vale's biggest criminals? I didn't know you two could come up with this kind of joke," She snorts, smiling widely. Ruby fidgets in discomfort, she herself wishing it was a joke. She would rather be cleaning her beloved Crescent Rose instead of dealing with this.

Yang's partner nudges her in the ribs slightly, the lack of a smile highlighting her seriousness. "Yang, this isn't a joke," She says in a stern, almost reproachful tone. Ruby's half-sister's smile disappears from her lips as she takes in Blake's and Ruby's expressions. She rubs the back of her head, now in slight shock.

"Oh, wow."

Weiss rolls her eyes slightly, mildly frustrated. "And he isn't here, and I highly doubt that he will be lying in his bed back at Beacon, or at least, not right away. Guess this means we have to do yet another search tonight," She says with a huff, crossing her arms across her chest. Blake raises a finger before speaking.

"Actually, I may have an idea of where he might be…."

 **Vale Cemetery…**

"Hey mom. Sorry for not stopping by for some time. Work's taken a….turn."

A low voice is the only sound heard among the rows of stone tombstones. Instead of his normal gruff manner, the owner of the voice has a touch of rarely-heard tenderness to his voice. Jake crouches in front of one of the grave markers, located underneath an ancient willow tree. It is a simple slate of granite, with only the dates of the person buried beneath it and the name of Jade Krasnyy Torchwick. The _Jäger_ 's mother, and Roman's ex-wife.

Jake's self-made gun lies slung over his back, his bladed weapons in their protective sheathes. His wrist-mounted ammo belts are both empty, having been used up on the docks, thought his main ammunition belt is still fully loaded. The only thing that is missing is his beloved and worn-out cloak.

"Still haven't found her yet, but still trying. I know she's alive, so at least there's that. I did run into father. Bastard is still kicking, sadly. I wo-" Jake pauses and suddenly stands up, his back straightened. In his solitude of his mind the _Jäger_ begins to swear profusely, but not a single word escaping his slightly parted lips. While he wants to activate his stealth semblance, the 17-year old fighter restrains himself.

"Jake?"

He growls under his breath, a slightly feral sound that only Blake is able to hear thanks to her cat former White Fang member, however, remains silent along with the brawler and the heiress. The four girls of Team RWBY had all decided that if they did find the sole member of Team JÄGER that they would let Ruby do the talking, at least for the moment.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

The rhetorical question causes the fifteen-year old scythe wielder to flinch slightly. The words sound like something that his father would say, only gruffer. She doesn't back away, instead opting to push forward.

"Jake, we're not going to judge you any different just because you're the son of Ro-"Now Ruby is cut off before she can finish her sentence. While well-intended, it apparently hadn't been well-received by the _Jäger_. He spins around, hatred in his eyes as he growls louder.

"I'm his son only by blood! That cock-sucking motherfucker has renounced his paternal role in my life when had attacked my mother for the last time! He punished and kicked and trampled her to death!" Snarls a furious Jake. All the girls tense their bodies slightly, ready if he decides to suddenly attack.

"You don't have to do this alone!" protests a now-shaken Ruby.

"You'll end getting yourself killed," adds Weiss.

"Get myself killed?! I'm going to die one day! The only question is how I check out. Do I want to go on my feet, or on my fucking knees, begging?! I ain't much for begging! Nobody ever gave me nothing! So I say fuck that man! I'll kill him!"

Jake takes a deep breath, trying to at least slightly calm himself down. Then he resumes speaking. "I'm warning you, stay out of this. I'm tired of people dying trying to help me."

The three older girls all exchange looks of uncertainty. Jake lets out a long sigh, turning back towards the final resting spot of his mother. When he speaks, it is at a lower tone, with an undertone that virtually no one has ever heard. The tone of sadness. "Please, just go," He says, his back towards Team RWBY. He hears only three pairs of footsteps that grow fainter.

"What do you want, Ruby?"

Instead of a vocal response, however, Jake is slightly startled by the sensation of a small hand resting on his right shoulder. Knowing that there is no way to get rid of the annoyingly-yet-admirably persistent black-and-red haired girl with bright silver eyes, he fights down the instinctive urge to shake his shoulder and dislodge her grip. "Jake, please look at me," She urges the normally-stoic hunter. Reluctantly he does so, eyeing the unofficial partner that had been assigned to him by that damn coffee-addict headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin. He is slightly taken aback by the 100% serious expression on the teen's face as she removes her hand form his shoulder.

"I don't know what it was like for you to watch your own mother die. There is something about losing your mother that I can understand, however." She then pauses, causing the _Jäger_ to raise an eyebrow. She takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I lost my mother when I was very little as well. She went on a mission, but it must have gone wrong or something, because she never came back. So I understand grief very well," The silver-eyed Huntress-in0training says in a quiet voice. Jake remains silent, his expressionless faces hiding any sort of a hint towards how he will react. "I still miss her, but I had also learned something about grief. You should never experience grief alone. And Jake, yours has been isolated to yourself for far too long."

What Ruby does next startles the _Jäger_. His chest is suddenly enveloped in a tight hug as the black-and-red haired girl springs forward, a small smile on her face. "Like it or not, Mister _Jäger_ , but you are my friend, whether you like it or not! So get used to it!" She says playfully, refusing to let go. Jake blinks rapidly, having been caught completely off guard by this action. After a few moments of Ruby clinging to him, she raises her head slightly to look him in the eye.

"I'm not letting go until you return the hug of friendship. And don't give a half-hearted attempt," She warns in a serious tone. Of course, Jake has a hard time taking the threat seriously as there is a rather large height difference between the two unofficial partners. But he does know that she won't quit. He sighs in silence, gently enveloping the red hood-wearing teen. After a moment she finally lets go of him, and they take a step back. Ruby flashes him a wide grin.

"See, was that so hard?"

Jake merely grunts, looking at the night sky. His gaze returns to Ruby Rose when he hears the sound of fabric moving about, his curiosity once more roused. His eyes widen slightly as he realizes what she is holding out to him: His beloved (and heavily tattered and holed) cloak.

"You forgot this. I took it before the police could find it and use you as a scapegoat or something," She explains quickly.

Jake gives her a smile as he gratefully retrieves the article of clothing from her small hands, his larger, calloused hands brushing against the younger, unmarred skin indicating Ruby's relatively stable (for one whose parents were/are Hunters and Huntresses) childhood. "Thank you," He mutters in a quiet tone, quickly donning his signature cloak once more.

"Anything for a friend," A beaming Ruby replies. "Now, come on. We better get back to Beacon before the others start looking for us, and more specifically, the staff searching for you."

Jake nods silently, shooting one last gaze of longing at the lonely tombstone that is the resting place of his mother. _"I'll stop by soon. I promise"_ The assassin mentally vows. Then he turns around, leaving the shadowy graveyard once more. Unlike the previous times, however, he isn't leaving the site on his own. This time, he is accompanied by the energetic ball of enthusiasm named Ruby Rose.

"By the way, Yang and the others want to talk to you about our two-week break that starts this Friday."

" _Oi vey."_

 **And done, sorry if it seems rushed, been a crazy time for me. Some of it was the good kind, but most of it is the bad, bad kind. Anyways, feel free to leave a review below! Next chapter: Planning. Until Next time! :) Also, there is a poll that I encourage you guys to participate in, let you help shape this story :)**


	10. IX Planning Part One

**Jäger Chapter Nine: Planning Part One**

 **Hey guys, sorry for the wait, will explain why below. Important annoucnment I will repeat below: I have a poll on my profile page that I would like for you'll to do. It would help me out with the direction I want to take my story. Please enjoy the story and also take the time to possibly vote.**

"….dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless! I had my doubts about allowing you to attend Beacon, as Professor Ozpin is well aware of, but sir, this incident is unacceptable! Miss Belladonna, while also behaving irresponsibly, didn't plan out a murder on the docks!" rants Professor Glynda Goodwitch to a clearly-bored Jake and a calm Ozpin. After he left the graveyard with Team RWBY, they had headed straight to Beacon. They hadn't gotten five feet past the door when a scowling Goodwitch had stopped them. When Ruby had asked why they were stopped, trying (and failing) to feign ignorance, the blond Huntress had said that Ozpin wanted to speak with all the members of Teams RWBY and JÄGER.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang had gone first, and it had been relatively quick, with only a minor scolding and a warning to not keep secrets from one another. Blake did receive an extra warning about pulling off any more solo stunts. Then the four girls were told to wait outside Ozpin's office while the reluctant student known as the _Jäger_ met with the top two teachers of Beacon Academy.

In other words, Jake was in shit creek.

Finally Goodwitch takes a deep breath, finished with her aggressive tirade for the moment. The room is silent for a few seconds that seem to stretch into minutes. "As of now, you are banned from leaving the school grounds on your own until further notice. If you desire to leave, you will need to be accompanied by at least one member of Team RWBY. As such, it is up to Miss Rose and her team to decide where you will be at for the next two weeks. You are dismissed."

With a look of pure incredulity etched on her features, Goodwitch first looks at her boss, then at the _Jäger_ , then once more at Ozpin. Said Hunter first takes a sip of his beloved coffee before motioning for Jake to leave using his hand. Silently, the cloaked rifleman exits the office. As the door closes, the blonde Huntress shoots her boss a look demanding an answer. "Well?" She says in a crisp, terse tone. Ozpin raises an eyebrow, having known his second-in-command for years. He takes yet another sip from his damn mug before replying.

"Jake Torchwick is a wild card, but he will still be of use when they make the next move. Trust me on this."

 **Outside…**

Ruby Rose paces slightly outside the elevator that leads to Ozpin's office. Her half-sister Yang leans her back against the wall opposite of the doors in a relaxed, casual manner. Blake stands still, a book in her hands, her black bow once again covering her cat ears. Weiss stands still as well, her eyes tracking her partner's back-and-forth movement with a slight scowl slowly forming on her face as seconds go by. The silver-eyed scythe-wielder had been pacing since they were dismissed, and for the Schnee Dust Company heiress, it was quite annoying. But as she had promised that she would be nicer, the glyph-user tried her best to maintain her silence.

 _Tried_

"Ruby, would you please stay still! You're going to end up carving a trench into the floor," She finally snaps, more irritated than hostile. Ruby pauses, turning around to face her older partner with a sheepish look on her face, her left hand rubbing the back of her head in mild embarrassment. Weiss drops her cross look as she sighs. "Look, I know you're concerned about Jake, but you need to relax. One, you're friends, so stop coming across as your dating. Two, he's the _Jäger_ , remember? He can take care of himself," She says in a softer tone.

"Yeah, you're right," Ruby sighs, her arm dropping back down to her side. Yang eyes her little sister. Inside the brain hidden beneath the massive of long, blonde hair, the brawler's mind is torn between slamming the reluctant Beacon student into a wall and warning him about messing around with Ruby, or taunting her sibling. Blake simply turns a page, exhausted from the incident at the docks. "I'm just worried that he's going to lash out or something," the leader of Team RWBY mutters to herself. A soft grunt causes all four of the teen girls to look at the doors.

"'He' is calm right now, and would prefer if you would relax," Jake says, crossing his arms, his face once more bearing the impenetrable expression of no emotion. To her credit, Ruby quickly changes the subject from her fears about her unofficial second partner.

"So what did Ozpin decide?" The fifteen-year old girl asks quickly. The three older girls nod their heads in silent agreement, equally curious. Jake sighs silently before answering.

"I'm not suspended, if that's what you're asking. Actually, to be honest, it isn't that bad. Looks like I will be seeing the four of you a bit more often now. I can't leave school grounds without being accompanied by at least one of you until further notice. At least I still get to keep all my weapons and bullets," The teen says, a slight hint of bitterness in his tone. None of the girls comment on that, knowing how prickly the _Jäger_ can be about these kinds of things.

Yang breaks the moment-long silence. "Hey, at least you're not getting Y-angsty," She says. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all roll their eyes at the latest terrible pun made by the buxom blonde brawler. Jake simply gives her a deadpan stare that drags on for a minute before he answers.

"No. Just….no."

"Oh, so sis, what were you saying earlier about plans for the break involving Jake?"

' _Oh boy.'_

 **Sorry for both the short chapter and the long wait, life has been a bit of a harsh bitch for me recently. Not to mention that I am having some trouble communicating with my primary Beta. I will try to be back on a proper schedule by mid-March, preferably sooner. Also, once again there is a poll for** _ **Jager**_ **that I would really like for you guys to vote on. Anyways, I will see you guys (hopefully) soon. Next chapter: Planning Part Two.**


	11. X Planning Part Two

**Jäger Chapter Ten: Planning Part Two**

 **MorgothII: Hello and welcome back to another (and longer than last time) chapter, and I just wanted to say that we have now hit over 7,000 views as of February 21** **st** **. I just wanted to thank you guys and gals so much for taking the time to read my story. Means a lot to me, so you all rock!**

' _Why do the gods torment me?'_

This single thought bounces around Jake Torchwick's, AKA the _Jäger,_ mindrepeatedly as he semi-reluctantly follows his new-found friend Ruby Rose and the rest of her team towards their dorm rooms. This thought had been a constant presence for a number of days now, in fact. Of course, it hasn't gotten better since it first entered the back of his mind earlier this week. And a certain busty blonde brawler hadn't made it any easier on the rifle-wielding teen boy.

Several days had gone by since the incident at the docks of Vale with the monster he has as a father and the once-peaceful White Fang. Today was actually the last day of classes for two weeks. Two weeks being in close proximity with the four girls of Team RWBY. And already he is starting to form more detailed thoughts on them. At first Jake had thought that the heiress Weiss Schnee would be the most irritating of the four.

Sadly, he had been wrong. So very much so.

Yang Xiao Long would be the death of him. Between her not-so-funny puns and her teasing, the older half-sister of his friend was driving him crazy. He had tried to ignore it, and it did work, but only to a certain, miniscule degree. And that was only during a school day.

' _Oh, such sweet joy! I get to deal with this fucking shit for two whole weeks non-stop!'_

The three seventeen and single fifteen-year old girl had decided to take the option of spending the entire break at Beacon instead of going to their own homes. Jake was willing to put up with the young scythe-wielder who had befriended him, and the ninja cat Faunus, but the other two might be a tad bit too much. Jake stops his thinking for a brief second, having opted to inhale deeply through his nose. He hold his breath for three seconds before slowly and softly exhaling through his mouth, making sure that he did so silently. Then he resumes listening in to the latest series of debates as they pauses just outside the doors to their dorm rooms. The subject being discussed is over what the four girls should do with the former assassin they have been assigned to watch by Ozpin.

"…and so I was thinking maybe we could do a sleep-over?"

"Ruby, we are all girls. Jake is a boy. I think there might be a _slight_ problem there," Weiss reminds her young team leader, who rubs her head sheepishly, slightly embarrassed. Then Yang cuts in, a mischievous smirk on her face. For Jake, the sight of that look on her face, combined with the (which Jake found to be rather debatable) playfully glint in the blonde's lilac eyes, does not bode well for him. Sadly, this gut feeling is quickly confirmed in the next second

"Of course, Mister _Jäger_ over here probably wouldn't mind 'accidently' getting to see at least some of us changing clothes if we did have one," Yang teases. Weiss's blue eyes widen to almost comical levels, while Blake rests her forehead on her right palm, shaking her head slightly in disappointment towards this latest antic committed by her party-loving partner. Ruby's cheeks flush with red, the color almost identical to the red metal used in her beloved weapon, Crescent Rose.

Jake, however, has an even more visible reaction towards the insinuation Yang's joke contains. His hands ball up into fists, squeezing them so hard his knuckles turn white. An even brighter shade of red appears on his face, a second sign of his anger at this verbal jab. Instead of responding gruffly, Jake merely brushes by the now-silent Team RWBY, yanking open his door. He quickly grabs some papers, his armor blueprints that he had just recently finished, before slamming the door closed. Still refusing to utter a single word, the cloak-wearer storms off in the direction of the school's forge room.

Ruby quickly recovers, a frown of disapproval plainly evident on her youthful face as she whirls around to face her older and taller half-sister. "Yang Xiao Long, that was totally uncalled for and so not cool!" She says in a slightly louder voice, as opposed to her normal tone. Nor is any of her typical positive energy present. A very rare sight. Before her now-startled sibling can respond, the scythe-wielder spins around and begins to jog towards the forge room as well, leaving her partner and Blake to glare at the now-uncomfortable Yang.

"So, um…shit," she mutters as she awaits the following tongue-lashing the Faunus and SDC heiress are about to rain down upon her.

Which she absolutely deserved.

 **One hour later…**

"I'm sorry about Yang," Ruby comments to the _Jäger_. The girl with black and red hair stands opposite of Jake, watching the brown-haired teen as he begins to hammer a piece of red-hot steel, flattening the metal out as he finally begins to create his set of armor. His new friend had helped him sort through the various ore and steel samples that the Hunter school had at its disposal, as well as starting the furnace for his project. The reluctant Beacon student had already finished the helmet and the accompanying face mask/throat guard attachment last night. Jake doesn't respond for a few minutes as he finishes up with the metal strip and begins to make a new one, slightly shorter than before. As he continues to pound the metal, the _Jäger_ finally replies.

"Ah, it's fine. Sisters can be like that. I should know," He chuckles drily, not realizing the slip-up until he hears his younger friend gasp slightly. _"Shit."_ He delivers the last blow to the metal before turning his head towards the silver-eyed Huntress-in-training. A single eyebrow is arched, the usually-socially awkward girl not missing the tell-tale sign that indicates the possibility of the enigma before her is, or at least was at one point, a brother.

Jake sighs as he puts down the hammer in the center of the anvil. "You're not going to drop this, are you?" He says wearily. Ruby shakes her head slightly before replying.

"Nope," She says, popping the 'p' in the word. Jake folds his arms across his chest as he stares at the wall behind the girl for a few minutes, not saying a word. To her credit, Ruby neither flinches nor back down, instead opting to mimic the _Jäger_ in crossing her arms across her chest. Instead of being stern, however, the action makes the shorter girl look adorable, causing a thin smile to grace Jake's lips.

"I do have a sister. A twin, in fact. Though, if you saw the two of us standing next to each other, you wouldn't be able to know," He says, chuckling slightly. Then a mournful expression darkens his face. "I haven't seen her since the day our mom was murdered. I do know that she is forced to work for my 'father', as an assassin," He finishes, his lip curled slightly in scorn not at the thought of his twin, but their father.

"What's her name?" Ruby asks, slightly cautious. Once again Jake doesn't answer immediately, instead beginning on yet another metal strip for his armor. The tension that fills the room seems to dampen even the mighty blows of the hammer as it stretches and flattens the glowing piece of steel.

"Most call her Neopolitan. I call her Neo. And I swear on my mother's grave that I will find and rescue her. And damned if I fail," He finishes with a quiet snarl and a final, loud bang as the final strip of armor for his chest plate is completed.

"Well Jake, like I said that night when we were in the graveyard, you won't be doing this alone."

Jake offers her a half-smile as he gathers the various metal strips that he required to make his armor. Ruby grabs the blueprints he had made, carefully rolling up the paper. Her older companion stops by the door, turning to look at her. He clears his throat before speaking.

"Thanks, Ruby. Come on, let's get started on building that chest plate. All we got to do is put the steel strips together, so that should be relatively easy. But we should hurry. We don't want it to get too late. Otherwise Yang might start cracking jokes about us when we re-group with the others," He finishes dryly. Ruby shoots him a smile as she laughs slightly. Jake raises an eyebrow in curiosity, looking down at his unofficial partner.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry that much," She says coyly, her smile increasing slightly.

"Oh? How so?"

"You'll see later tonight. In the meantime, let's build that armor! I think I have an idea about what we could do, if Ozpin and the rest of the staff agree," She replies. Then she activates her speed semblance and takes off for Jake's dorm room. Jake shakes his head slightly as a rose petal lands on his left shoe.

"This will be interesting," He muses aloud as he begins to follow her, though at a slower pace, leaving the forge room empty once more.

 **Four hours later…**

"Alright, this is the last piece, Jake," Ruby says as she hands him the final strip of metal. The construction of the armor had been a long and grueling process, due to having the chest plates lacquered in wood that had been painted in a bright blue by Jake days earlier. The rest of the armor had been completed, with the metal having been also lacquered in either a thin layer of wood of the same color or, in the case of sections needing flexibility, dyed yellow leather.

The combination of these materials had resulted in a durable yet also flexible armor, providing the _Jäger_ with a greater amount of protection than his shirt, jeans, and tattered cloak, with only a small decrease in stealth (which would be easily balanced with his semblance) and agility. Of course, it wouldn't be invulnerable against a large Grimm or a large amount of gunfire, but it would be useful in close-quarters combat.

To his (rather pleasant) surprise, the neighboring dorm room that contains RWBY has been unusually silent. When Jake had inquired his friend about the lack of noise, she had given a vague response of the three older girls going for some sort of walk for awhile. After that, Ruby refused to say a single word on the subject, so Jake left the subject alone.

Jake sticks his tongue out slightly as he carefully inserts the final metal strip, thus completing the suit of armor. The unlikely duo of friends both takes a step back. A minute goes by as they proudly gaze upon their combined work. Then Ruby gently pushes Jake forward, her body shaking slightly in excitement. "Come on, try it on! I wanna see how it looks!" She says excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Despite his tendencies to reveal very little emotions to the vast majority of other people, Jake lets out a laugh as he picks up the now-completed chest plate. "Well, you're going to have to wait outside," He reminds her. Ruby's eyes widen and she quickly exits the room, allowing the older teen to have some privacy as he begins to put the armor on for the first time, tying together the lace cords used to keep the sections in place. He keeps the coat and his two wrist bandolier belts along with the main belt and saber. However, the sheathe for the sword bayonet for his beloved rifle has been moved to the side opposite of the larger sheathe on his belt.

Once all the armor has been placed on, Jake looks at the final two pieces of armor. The first is the facemask and accompanying throat-guard. The mask covers his face from the eyes down, with a gap over his mouth so he can speak. The inside of the mask is lacquered red and its contours match the ones on its owner's face. After he quickly ties the strings behind his head to secure the facial armor, Jake turns to the last, and honestly most exotic part of his gear, his helmet.

The helmet is a vibrant shade of blue, though it is the ornament on top that is the real of thing horns stick out on either side of a gold-colored dragon that appears to be about to take flight, its forelegs sticking out and its wings lowered. Jake had included this as a way to intimidate anyone foolish enough to cross blades with him, as well as being useful if he has to participate in any sort of fighting competition over the next four years.

Jake quickly fixes the thick cords that will keep the helmet securely on his head before he heads towards the door. He steps out into the hallway when a flash of light goes off before his eyes.

"GAH!" He cries, startled. The _Jäger_ blinks his eyes rapidly several times, clearing away the spots before his eyes. "A little warning next time would be much appreciated," He says to Ruby, who was holding her Scroll. The flash of light had been the result of the fifteen-year old girl taking a picture of her newest friend in his new armor on the electronic device. She offers a weak smile as she puts her Scroll.

"Sorry about that. Oh, I do have good news! I asked Professor Ozpin if we could try out your new armor by hunting Grimm in the Emerald Forest for a few hours and he said sure, but only tomorrow morning. So, you better get some sleep!" She says in a rush, pushing a yet-again startled _Jäger_ back into his room. "Good night!" She says before closing the door, her footsteps quickly receding as she enters her own room.

Jake shakes his head as he switches his new armor for his simple sleepwear. "Well, at least I won't have to deal with Yang a whole lot tomorrow. And I get to kill something. A win-win for me," Jake mutters to himself as he slips underneath his covers, soon falling asleep.

 **And done! Next chapter will be about Jake and Ruby trying out his new armor against various Grimm. And what did Weiss and Blake do to Yang? You'll have to wait for the next chapter. Also, Jake's armor is the same as the armor used in the Shogun 2 Total War cinematic trailer, only in blue. A picture of the helmet is the new cover art for the story. Also-a side story about Neo and Jake's relationship has been published last Friday under the name of 'The Silent Twin', so maybe check it out. Anyways, once again thank you for taking the time to check out my story, and I'll see you guys and girls very soon! Next chapter: A-Hunting We Go**


	12. XI A-Hunting We Go

**Jäger Chapter Eleven: A-Hunting We Go**

 **MorgothII: Hello and happy March! Heads-up, this might be another short chapter like Chapter Nine, to serve as a filler-type chapter, so it won't be quite so action-oriented as most chapters involving fights will be. Also, the votes are in:**

 **Yes: 8 votes**

 **No: 3 votes**

 **As a result, I will start the romance development within the next five chapters after this one, due to an idea given to me by a guest reviewer. (If you are reading this and you know who I am talking about, thank you :)). Anyways, on with the story!**

The morning air was quiet, after all, it was the first full-day of the two week break for the students of Beacon Academy. Then a girl's voice breaks said silence.

"Come on, hurry up Jake! Those Grimm aren't going to by killed by themselves!"

Said boy sighs internally as cross the courtyard of the school, the hood-wearing bundle of energy quite a bit ahead of the taller boy in bright blue armor. Despite the sigh, a small grin is present on his lips, a once-rare sight that was becoming rather common as the two spent more time together over the past week.

Jake Torchwick and Ruby Rose woke up early and where heading to the same area of the cliff where they had been launched into the Emerald Forest only a few months ago. Both were in their combat outfits, and Jake carried his distinctive helmet under the crook of his arm. His self-built single-shot black powder rifle was slung across his back, though Jake didn't intend on using it save for any Grimm larger than a Beowolf or could fly. After all, he was planning on testing his armor against the claws of the Creatures of Grimm, meaning close-quarters combat. Not that the rifleman would be at a disadvantage, having spent the years on his own devoted to mastering each and every last piece of weaponry in his arsenal.

When the leader of Team RWBY had form the reluctant student that Ozpin had agreed to it, the seventeen-year old boy had suspected that it had been with the intent of improving the relationship between the two unofficial partners. Maybe once he would have been greatly irritated by the scheming, coffee-loving, grey-haired bastard's actions. Now, though, the sole member of Team JÄGER is accepting of this particular action.

That was the real surprise for him.

As the duo approach the place they were told to report at, Jake's smile disappears as he puts on his more well-known stoic expression. The cause of this sudden change in his behavior was the sight of the two adults waiting for them.

An equally stoic Ozpin and a slightly scowling Glynda Goodwitch were in front of them. A steaming cup of coffee in the former's hand and the riding crop at the belt of the later, whose arms are crossed across her chest. "Well, I won't bother with asking if the two of you are ready, seeing as you arrived early. So I'll just say a few things before letting you two have your little 'hunting' adventure. The first is to stay in close proximity to one another at all times, and to not leave the other behind for any reason. The second is to keep your scrolls somewhere you can quickly access if the need for help should arise. Finally, you two will be either at the foot of the cliff awaiting pick-up or right here in three hours. Am I clear?" He asks calmly.

"Yes sir!" Ruby says as she nods her head eagerly, cradling the folded form of her beloved Crescent Rose, her silver eyes glittering with excitement. Jake doesn't give a verbal response, instead opting for one of his simpler and gruffer means of acknowledgement.

The _Jäger_ simply nods his head with a slight grunt, His mask and throat guard already attached. Ozpin nods at Glynda, who prepares two of the launch pads for the two unlikely friends. Jake secures his helmet quickly as he and the young scythe-wielder step onto the two pads. With a second nod of his head, the blonde Huntress who serves as the second-in-command for the headmaster taps the button. With a jolt, the two teens are thrown into the air. This time, however, they had been launched with less power and a closer trajectory. After all, they needed to land close by one another because of Ozpin's requirements for this slightly unusual exploit.

Back at the cliff, Ozpin raises his beloved mug to his lips and takes a quick sip of his favorite beverage. Meanwhile, Professor Goodwitch addresses the older man. "I still think that this is a reckless idea," She mutters. Ozpin gives the blonde a sly smile for the briefest of moments. Then he lowers the mug as he replies.

"Just humor an old man, please."

 **Two hours, fifty-five minutes, and several hundred dead Grimm later…**

With a grunt, the _Jäger_ parries the long claws of the snarling Alpha Beowolf before him with the now-notched blade of his saber. With a downwards slash of his own, the veteran fighter literally disarms the savage demon, his blade easily parting through the fur, flesh, muscles, and even bone of the outstretched front paw. The wolf-like Grimm leaps backwards, howling in agony as blood squirts from the non-mortal wound.

With his typical calm he displays in almost every fight against the Grimm, Jake lunges forward. Suddenly, the other forepaw lashes out, the sharp talons making contact with his armor's chest plate. A few sparks are seen, and a series of gouges are made in the upper layer of the laminated armor, but the teen himself is unharmed. He springs forward once again, both hands griping the hilt of his saber as he lowers the weapon to the point that it is vertical to the ground.

This time, the once-mighty leader of a now non-existent pack of lesser Beowolves fails to make contact with its assailant when it swipes at the son of Roman Torchwick once more. Said fighter avoids the hit as he ducks down slightly, the claws barely missing the crest of his helmet. With one last burst of speed, Jake launches himself forward, his blade sinking into the exposed torso of the Creature of Grimm. The now-dying demon lets out one last sound, a high-pitched yelp, before tumbling backwards, its body already emitting the black smoke as its body starts to dissolve.

Jake stands still for a few seconds, sword still held out and forwards by his tired arms. He pants slightly, exhausted from the day's fights. His armor, now slightly battered and marked with lines from the occasional Grimm claw, has more than passed the test. A cloud of rose petals drifts behind him as Ruby rushes towards his side, her weapon in its sniper mode. A grin is on her face, which is no surprise. After all, today has been a day where the youngest student in Beacon to fight and kill Grimm, and a bonus of strengthening her friendship with the until-recently lone wolf operator.

"Ok, it's official. Jake, you are AWESOME!" She says, bouncing around him for a few seconds. A tired smile forms on his face as he sheathes his saber, having flicked his wrist a second earlier to send the blood droplets on the well-used blade flying away from him or the black-and-red haired girl before him. Once his primary melee weapon is secured, he places a hand on her shoulder, stopping the amusing antics of the young reaper.

"Thanks, but we better head back," He suggests, briefly pulling out his Scroll to check the time. They still had five minutes, but it would be best to start moving back to the pick-up zone. Ruby gives an adorable pout but nods her head in agreement. She is about to suggest that they have a race to see who would get to the face of the cliff first, but decides not to do so due to the _Jäger_ 's exhausted state.

"Alright, let's go. I think Blake and Weiss should be back by now with Yang," She says as the duo start to move through the forest once more. Jake turns to Ruby, as curious look that is slightly disguised by the face mask he wears that covers his lower face from eye-level down.

"You never did tell me what they did with Yang," He remarks. Ruby smirks at him playfully.

"Well, let's just say that if Yang acts up, just say the word 'snowman'," She says somewhat cryptically.

Jake nods slightly as they continue walking, wondering what his friend and current companion meant by that.

 **Back in Team RWBY's dorm room…**

Her knees clutched towards her chest, Yang Xiao Long rocks back and forth slightly on her bed. Her lilac eyes bear a haunted look as she shivers slightly. Her partner Blake Belladonna looks at Ruby's partner and the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee. A look of uncertainty is present on the face of the cat Faunus. "Do you think we went a little bit too far?" She asks, concerned. The dust-user is about to reply with a maybe when she pauses and reflects on a series of incidents where Yang had embarrassed her in some way. A devious smirk comes to her lips as she replies.

"No, I think that it was quite adequate. I'm sure she'll be fine by the end of break."

Meanwhile Yang mutters a single sentence over and over again, and will continue to do so for several more hours.

"I don't want to build a snowman."

 **Secret White Fang lab underneath the warehouses of Vale…**

"Is it ready?"

"We're still running diagnosis ma'am. I advise to wa-"

"Will it function?" The woman in a red dress and gold lacing that stops halfway towards her knees, dark hair, and orange eyes that seem to be glowing asks again. This time, her voice is much more forceful. She doesn't want recommendations on how her minions should proceed. The deer Faunus gulps, the parts of his face not covered by the Grimm mask quickly paling to the same shade as his unsoiled lab coat. His body trembles slightly.

"Y-yes," He says meekly. The woman nods her head, a slight smirk on her lips.

"Good," She says, her voice going back to its typical seductive tone. "Then turn it on."

Silently the White Fang scientist nods his antlered head slightly before returning to the lab behind them, hurriedly instructing the five other White Fang members, despite some of them trying to mount a verbal protest.

The sound of electricity humming and gears whirling fills the room as Cinder enters, a young silver-haired man with a bored look on his face and a young, dark-skinned woman with green shoulder-length hair and a very scant top close behind her.

Amidst the trays and carts containing various tools and devices is a large metal table. A large object, humanoid-like, appears to be lying atop it. However, the trio are unable to fully identify the form due to the large white sheet covering the entire table, revealing only a rough outline of whatever is being hidden by the fabric. "It's online," The head scientist says as he moves over to the table. As the deer Faunus is about to grab and remove the white sheet, a skeletal-looking hand, made of metal, grabs him by the throat. The unlucky terrorist gags for a few seconds before a sickening _crack_ is heard. The body goes limp as the figure that killed him sits upright before being dropped to the ground, his neck broken.

The other Faunus workers flee the room as the figure steps off the table and approaches the three humans. The two subordinates look on with some fear at the still-mostly obscured form as it approaches them slowly, clanking as its metal feet, complete with talons, touch the concrete floor, and gears whirling as the limbs move back and forth. The woman in charge calmly watches as the seven-foot tall figure removes the white cloth, revealing a single, glowing red eye in the center of a robotic face. The robot crouches down on one knee when it is three feet away from her.

"Miss Cinder Fall, I am yours to command," it says in a cold, robotic voice. Cinder smiles in response, pleased at this newest success at her mistress's grand plot.

"Good. We have work to do."

 **And done! Wrote this entire chapter today, so I am excited to complete it! Once again, than ks for reading, and feel free to leave a review, favorite, or follow! Until next time! Also new poll on my profile! Next chapter:** **A New Semester Also: Frozen reference is there because I couldn't think of anything better to use to torture Yang by her teammates, sorry not sorry!**


	13. XII A New Semester

**Jäger Chapter Twelve: A New Semester**

 **MorgothII: Yes, this takes place at the start of Volume 2. Now, enjoy another chapter of Jäger! Also ties in somewhat with my newly-published story, Grandfather.**

 **Two weeks later…**

Jake raises an eyebrow in mild amusement as his friend and fellow team leader Ruby Rose deliver a monologue about her vision for today. Today was the last day of break, hence her eagerness to do stuff. The _Jäger_ 's smile disappears when he hears the buxom blonde at their table speak.

"I always kick off my semesters with a _Yang_ ," Ruby's half-sister says, grinning. No one laughs at it, instead opting to shake their heads or simply groan at the bad pun. To her credit, she had been behaving in a better manner towards Jake since that incident, and had quickly gone back to her old antics, aside from picking on him. "Ehh!? Guys? Am I right?"

Jake barely manages to muffle a chuckle when a bright red apple bounces off her forehead, having become distracted. Meanwhile Ruby continues her 'speech' about how their second semester would be great, but that classes were starting up tomorrow. Jake raises his eyebrow even higher when he notices Yang return fire at Team JNPR, with Jaune yelping in slight pain.

Inside the isolation of his mind, the _Jäger_ winces when the pie that Nora had thrown and had been intended for Yang instead hits the now-standing Weiss Schnee in the middle of her mini-speech. _'….shit,'_ He thinks to himself, activating his stealth semblance to leave the cafeteria before it gets messy.

It turns out that he had made the right call. Just before he enters his dorm wing, a horde of frightened students surge out of the dining hall. Jake shakes his head, smirking slightly as he swiftly returns to the privacy of his dorm room. Closing the door, he reaches underneath his bed, grabbing a long object wrapped in blue silk. Reverently, the _Jäger_ places the object down in front of him, crossing his legs as he sits down. He delicately begins to remove the decorative fabric, revealing a sheathed sword, a _katana_ made of the highest caliber steel. He grabs his bayonet as well, staring at the blade as he allows himself a rare moment of remembrance of his past.

Sometime later, Jake looks up from his sword bayonet, his very first weapon. He had been remembering of the night he had received it. The hilt and mounting may have changed, but the blade was the very one given to him by the old warrior. He sheathes both the short blade and the other sword he has kept hidden from all. The _katana_ gifted to him upon the death of his mentor. He places it under his bed, hidden once more until he needs it.

The food fight in the dining hall is probably over, and the _Jäger_ should rejoin Ruby and the rest of Team RWBY before they freak out over his vanishing act. Before he closes the door, he touches the hilt of his bayonet once more. "Thank you, Grandfather." The man wasn't really his grandfather, but he was much more of a father than Roman Torchwick would ever be.

As luck would have it, he bumps into the very team he was looking for within five seconds of leaving his room. He raises an eyebrow at the sight of their large smiles and food-stained school uniforms. Team JNPR is close behind, equally happy and messy. "So, did any of you get detention?" Jake asks in a slightly wry tone. To the rifle-wielder's utter astonishment, Ruby shakes her head rapidly, still smiling.

"Nope!" She says, popping the 'p' loudly. Jake shakes his head in mild wonder.

"So what is the plan now? It is later afternoon now," He asks, his voice carrying a genuine mixture of sincerity and curiosity. _'Argh! These girls are starting to rub off on me way too much!'_

"Head to the library, we will be there within an hour, seeing that we gotta get cleaned up," His shorter friend replies. Then she turns to the other teenagers. "Last one there gets to have only cold water!" She says, activating her speed semblance before the minds of the others could even begin to format their denials.

Then a second, smaller stampede starts as said teen boys and girls jostle one another as they too surge towards the showers, trampling the roses left behind by the young scythe-wielder's sprint. "Oi vey," Jake mutters to himself, once again alone. Unlike the last time he had said it, this time he had no sourness behind those words. Then a frown appears on his face as he fully registers the expression on one of his friend's teammates.

Blake Belladonna looked like she had been chased up a tree (considering her mostly-secret fact of being a cat Faunus, the phrasing seemed rather appropriate to the _Jäger_ ), bags formed underneath her amber eyes. He had also noticed, but not commented on just yet, how she had been more withdrawn than she normally was. Eating less, sleeping little, it was a miracle that she hadn't collapsed yet. Key word of that sentence was _yet_.

The fact that this had only started the day after the incident with her former comrades, the peaceful activists-turned-terrorist Faunus group, the White Fang, now working with Jake's father, Roman Torchwick, on the docks of Vale. The same incident that restricted Jake's freedom of movement outside of the grounds of Beacon, having to be chaperoned. But this issue with Blake will need to be addressed, and very soon.

Hours later, Jake waits outside the dorm room of Team RWBY, listening to the muffled sounds of arguments between the girls after Weiss Schnee, AKA Ice Queen, yet again rejected Jaune. The reason why he was waiting in the hall was to act as a bouncer of sorts, keeping people from interrupting the much-needed team discussion. The seventeen-year old was also tasked with keeping Blake from trying to avoid the informal interrogation her teammates had been forced to do. The _Jäger_ had participated somewhat in the board game known as Remnant. While there are only four kingdoms to choose from, for the most part he plays for Blake, trying to cover for her distraction for a little bit. It works, but only for a while. Once he stopped playing, the others noticed and finally broached the topic of Blake's mega-withdrawal from the world. And thus it resulted in the reluctant son of Torchwick's current predicament.

Suddenly the door next to him swings open, and his favorite black-and-red haired friend (Actually, his only friend he is close with at this moment) rushes out of the room, heading towards the library. Jake winces when she crashes into the dark-skinned, mint-green haired woman in her way. The newcomer doesn't stumble backwards or anything, but Ruby falls onto her backside, groaning slightly. Then she looks up, concern and slight embarrassment in her sliver eyes.

"Sorry," She says meekly while the other woman offers the 15-year old a hand, which she gratefully takes. "Are…you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just watch where you're going," She replies calmly as she helps Ruby up to her feet.

"Oh…right…sorry…" She says again, while Jake turns his head slightly, seizing up the newcomers. The _Jäger_ sees that the woman has at least one, possibly two other companions. The one most visible to his brown eyes is a silver-haired man with a cocky expression just barely masked. Both wear school uniforms that indicate the fact that they are from Haven, and thus transfer students for the Vytal Festival. The third figure, however, is almost completely obscured for the moment, and Jake resumes listening to Ruby.

"Um…I'm Ruby! Are you…new?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually," A second voice, indicating that the third figure is a woman, says as the mint-haired student steps aside. Jake's eyes widen slightly for the briefest of seconds when he sees her. A girl with raven hair, and bright amber eyes that almost seem to glow with fire. She isn't wearing her red dress, but it is her. The _Jäger_ says nothing however, pretending to be bored. Ruby stares with a look of slight concentration at the latest speaker, who gazes at her with a calm, but mysterious look. For a tense moment, Jake prepares for a fight, despite only having his sword bayonet on him at this time. Then Ruby breaks the moment, oblivious to the hidden threat.

"Ooooooh! You're here for the festival! Oh, but exchange students have their own dormitory."

"I guess we just got turned around," the silver-haired man replies to Ruby's comment.

"Don't worry, happens all the time!" She says, still oblivious to the suspicious tone, as the trio begins to walk down the hallway. "Uh, your building is just east of here!"

"Thanks," The obvious leader, the amber-eyed woman, says, stopping briefly by the scythe-wielder. "Maybe we'll see you around." Then she turns back around, following her two subordinates. Jake's head subtly tracks their movements as Ruby finishes talking to the 'students' from Haven.

"Yeah, maybe! Oh, and welcome to Beacon!"

' _Ruby, you sweet innocent soul…you just welcomed one of the most dangerous individuals I have ever known. The devils are inside the walls. But that isn't the worst part. The worst part is that I can't reveal this to anyone just let. All I have is my gut feeling, and I doubt that will be enough. Fuck!'_ Jake vents mentally. Then he realizes that Ruby was talking to him.

"Um, come again?" He asks, feeling a tad bit stupid.

"We're going to sneak out tomorrow night and search for Torchwick and the White Fang. I wanted to invite you to come along."

A grin appears on Jake's face. "With pleasure," He says, almost purring.

' _At least I can deal with this threat. But time_ is _running out. The end game is almost here, I fear.'_

 **And done! Posting this chapter a day early, sorry if it feels slightly shorter. Another builder-type chapter. Anyways, I'm leaving my latest poll open for another day or two, so you better hurry up! As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story, and please feel free to leave a review, thought, or comment down below! Really enjoy feedback! Have a wonderful week and until next time! Chapter Thirteen: Highway Showdown**


	14. XIII Highway Showdown

**Jäger Chapter Thirteen: Highway Showdown**

 **Hello again! Finished typing this chapter today and so I decided to post it even though it has only been (barely) two days since the previous chapters! Also, the vote is in.**

 **Yes pairing: 2 votes (50%)**

 **No Pairing: 2 votes (50%)**

 **So I have decided to go ahead with the pairing of Neo and Yang, which I think would be a great one to have to build up considering their canon-rivalry. It isn't going to be for a while, or a large focus of this story. Most likely I'll make a second sister story that focus on the two. Anyways, on with the show! I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave reviews, thoughts, comments!**

With one last, somewhat-reluctant look at his newly-built and proven armor, Jake Torchwick silently closes the door to his room. He has already activated his stealth semblance as a precaution. The gun-and-sword slinger is dressed in his old street clothes, as today's task would require that very element. The reason for this secrecy was simple.

Team RWBY would be trying to find Roman Torchwick and the White Fang today and tonight, along with the _Jäger_ , the monkey Faunus from the docks known as Sun Wukong, and his friend Neptune Vasilias, a blue-haired teen. They had eavesdropped on the four girls and offered their assistance, which was accepted. Teams were then formed.

Blake and Sun, who would be attending a White Fang recruitment rally in secret tonight. Jake would be accompanying them for part of the way. The tall teen's plan was being to be dropped off at the central highway system in case the two Faunus students had been detected and were being chased, to provide support through his beloved rifle.

Ruby and (to her disappointment) Weiss would search the city, starting around the CCT tower so that the Schnee Dust Company heiress could contact her family's company and examine dust shipping records and the like.

Yang and Neptune (to Weiss's despair) had been partnered up, and were planning to go to Junior's club for any information the club owner (and Jake's secret info broker) might know. Jake remembered what had happened the last time the blonde brawler had a chat with Junior, and so had discreetly given him a warning/heads-up about who would be visiting his establishment, and also a reminder to not mention the fact that he worked for Jake. In return, Jake had learned that Junior's secret mole in the White Fang, a puma Faunus and then briefly a bookstore owner named Tukson, had been killed by the silver-haired male and the nearly-topless mint green-haired female.

The girls were in different clothes than either their normal combat dresses or school uniforms, even Yang opting to wear an outfit that exposed only some of her cleavage. But they all are carrying their weapons, including Jake's typical arsenal. His ammo belts all hold his special tungsten-cored, anti-Grimm rounds only. He isn't sure why, but he just has a feeling that he will have need of them today. And he rarely ignores his gut feeling. After all, there had been countless close-calls that should have killed him, but didn't due to acting on these said feelings.

The small group quickly moves out, not desiring to waste a single second of time on their task. All have their own goals, hopes, and desires that may be fulfilled by tomorrow's sunrise. But only one has the plan of delivering death. More precisely, to a white coat and bowler hat-wearing, cane-wielding, orange-haired and green-eyed man who was his father. And maybe, just maybe, find his beloved twin sister.

The _Jäger_ is once more on the hunt.

 **Later…**

About an hour and a half has gone by since they left the grounds of Beacon Academy. Most of the assigned teams have arrived or are nearing their destinations. One of them prepares to spend a long amount of time in his position, having been just arrived.

Jake stands on one of the many iron beams that are beneath the massive roads of Vale's highways. His Scroll is in his left hand, and the _Jäger_ is holding the device to his ear. "Yes, I'm sure. Just don't forget about me if you start a party," he says, half-jokingly.

" _Alright. Good hunting, I guess,"_ Blake says as she hangs up, the cat Faunus and her friend already on the move once again. Jake puts the Scroll into his pocket, having set it to vibrate, and even then only briefly. Jake sighs, stretching his body before readying his single-shot rifle, already feeling at ease with the environment Jake will be working in for a while.

"Once more unto the breach," Jake mutters quietly, looking down for any signs of trouble. A little-known fact about the underground crime element of the Kingdom of Vale was that one of the most vile practices took part, day and night, near the base of the solid concrete blocks holding the roads in the air. Child trafficking; one of the worst crimes, or at least, in the _Jäger_ 's opinion. And there was only one suitable punishment for it: Death.

Another hour goes by, filled only with aggravating boredom. Then Jake detects a small movement from the corner of his eye, and he readies his rifle. Like a shadow, the killer moves closer, still retaining the high ground. What he sees causes a snarl to form on his lips, and his brown eyes blaze with utter disgust.

A group of around twenty-five to thirty rope-bound children is being lead by six traffickers. As the feeble youths are forced forward, any who the slavers deem to be too slow are given an 'incentive' to move faster. To be more specific, stragglers are whipped.

Suddenly, the lead adult orders a stop. Probably for a break, maybe for an exchange that they had arrived at early. Regardless, for the six gunmen, this would be their second-to-last stop.

Their very last stop would be in Hell.

The _Jäger_ would be providing them a one-way, free-of-charge trip to there.

Jake calmly moves his rifle, already loaded with a round, until the iron sights line up with the head of the obvious leader of the slavers. He inhales and exhales slightly as he lowers himself to a kneeling position. His trigger finger gently squeezes the trigger.

The death of their leader is unexpected and shocking for the other five child slavers. One moment their leader is preparing to make contact with the others involved with the exchange using his Scroll. The next, his head explodes in a gory mess of scarlet blood, white bone matter, and grey brain tissue. A loud _bang_ is heard, slightly muffled by the sounds of cars and trucks that are moving overhead, oblivious to the horrors and death going on below. The terrified group of children screams at the ghastly sight. One of the gunmen turns around, preparing to beat some of his 'charges' to silence them.

"Shad up ya bitches! The next one of yousas ta screa-" He never finishes his threat. Nor while he ever be able to make good on it. For a brief second a startled look appears on his face. Then his head also explodes. The children huddle closer to one another, some of the unfortunates having some of the organic debris on their tattered and filthy clothes. A second _bang_ follows.

"What the fuc-" a third gunman, his head moving all round in a panic, starts to say, his gun at the ready. His stupidity is rewarded with a swift death. As the two surviving gunmen start an attempt to find some cover, the third slaver stumbles backwards slightly. He drops the gun as his numb hands move towards his chest. Already a bright red stain has appeared, and quickly spreads. Still lacking an understanding of what the hell had just happened, the dying scum falls to his knees, and then slumps over onto his side. The body twitches briefly before stopping.

One of the two surviving gunmen, who have taken cover behind a column, pops out and fires a short-burst from his dust-powered assault, aiming wildly as the third _bang_ dies out. "Can you see him? I thought the _Jäger_ was fucking out of the game?!" His companion shouts, fumbling for his Scroll.

"He's up above somewhere!" The assault gun-wielding slaver replies loudly. His gun makes a loud _click_. "Shit, I'm empty! Reloading," He says. Suddenly he feels a warm splatter hit the back of his sleeveless shirt, another of those damn sounds of gunfire quickly following. He turns around, stunned by what he sees.

Somehow, their tormentor was able to fire a bullet straight through the concert slab the slavers had thought impenetrable to firearms. Apparently, the slack-jawed man thinks stupidly, they were so very wrong. A massive hole exists in the slain slaver's throat. A second bullet pierces through both concrete and flesh, and a final, loud _crack_ signals the end of six more of Vale's hidden slavers.

The group of children have stopped screaming, their already-parched throats now sore from doing so. A few still whimper, and more join in as they see the one who must be responsible for the deaths of their captors approach them. The gun used to kill said men is slung across his back. A cowl hides his face as the tattered cloak dances ever-so slightly in the wind. He stops before the children, drawing a short blade.

"Easy now. You're all safe now. I'm just going to cut these ropes. Then I will make a call to the Vale Police Department to pick you up," He says gently. The children all exchange wide-eyed glances, then one of the older and braver youths steps forward. Her arms trembling, the twelve-year old watches as the sinewy rope binding her wrists is severed by the male's weapon.

The next few minutes are filled with a tense silence. Jake quickly slices the ropes until all are freed. Then he walks over to the slain and now-headless leader, his left hand still clutching the Scroll. Jake plucks the device without a second thought before dialing the police.

"I saw a group of children being trafficked by six men. Then someone or thing killed the adults and freed the children. You should pick them up, and have people to help them ready to do so," The _Jäger_ says gruffly. Then Jake gives the directions, before hanging up. Someone tugs at his pants. The first girl he had freed looks up at him with awe in her eyes.

"Thank you mister," She says meekly. A smile twitches at the corners of his mouth, the only part of Jake's face visible to the children. He saves children like her to try to atone for these long years of not being there for his twin sister, Neopolitan. The _Jäger_ also wants, desires, to spare as many young and innocent souls from experiencing his fate.

"You are welcome. Stay safe, and may the heavens protect you from now on." Then Jake departs, creating a false impression of moving away from where he had been waiting. He silently returns to his original position on the iron beams above. When he does so, he sees (to his immense relief) that the children are gently being led away from the scene and back to the city. It would take some time, but hopefully one day they would all recover and go on to live happier lives.

The police also leave quickly, taking only the six bodies and the now-ownerless weapons. Once more Jake is the only soul present beneath the roads. He re-loads his faithful gun in silence. Once he is finished, he lets out a long sigh, the thrill and excitement of the one-sided shoot-out now gone. In its place has returned that damn irritant known as boredom.

"At least I got some live-fire target practice," the _Jäger_ mutters to himself darkly. He doesn't regret killing the slavers, only the fact that they and countless others exist in the four kingdoms of Remnant. Maybe one day, he could erode this ignored issue. But that is not of his objective for the near-future.

The sky turns dark as the sun sets and night arrives. Jake rests against one of the columns, resting. Then he feels his Scroll vibrates, fully awakening him. He pulls it out and sees a text message from Blake. As he reads the words, a cruel smirk appears. Apparently the cat Faunus member of Team RWBY and Sun are being chased by a hijacked Atlas Paladin. The source of the smile, however, is the identity of its pilot. To the _Jäger_ 's pleasure, it is none other than Roman Torchwick himself.

Even better, the two Faunus hunter- and huntress-in-training are heading directly in Jake's direction. Jake swiftly stands up, quickly stretching his back. He starts to feel giddy in anticipation of (hopefully) killing the monster that killed his mother, took his twin, and ruined most of his life. All he has to do, for now, is wait.

"I'm ready for you, fucker."

 **And done! Originally I was going to include the fight scene against Roman Torchwick in this chapter, but I decided to split this chapter in two. Next chapter will be a longer fight scene, with (hopefully) a surprise or two in store for you guys. Also, as of this moment (which will probably change soon) I have the same number of followers as one of my lucky numbers, eighty-eight! This story is also now officially my most viewed story of all time! So thank you guys and girls so much! You are all awesome! Until next week (or maybe even sooner) my readers! Next time: I Really Hate Machines**


	15. XIV I Really Hate Machines

**Jäger Chapter Fourteen: I Really Hate Machines**

 **MorgothII: Early post this week! Not much to say up here, some at the bottom, other than a shout-out to whoever finds the star wars reference in the battle below. Read and enjoy!**

' _Atlas is really pathetic in protecting its equipment,'_ Jake Torchwick muses to himself as he catches sight of the piloted mass of metal his 'father' had chased Blake and Sun with. Said father and suit are below him, having been slammed off of the highway above Jake by Weiss Schnee. Apparently the heiress had frozen a section of road or something to cause the heavy machine to fall this far. The rather appropriately named 'Ice Queen' may be annoying for the _Jäger_ to put up with, but she does have skills.

Jake lines up his sights at the armored cockpit protecting his fucker of a father. With a serene expression completely at odds with the boiling hatred the _Jäger_ really feels. The gun recoils backwards as it emits the signature trail of sparks and thick smoke. The tungsten-core bullet streaks downwards. At the last second, however, the mechanized suit takes a step forward to the now-assembled Team RWBY. Instead of killing his target, the bullet hits the corner of the right arm's upper shoulder, causing only a slight bit of damage.

"Fuck," Jake says quietly as he deftly operates the lever underneath the trigger. The still-steaming shell cartridge is spent spiraling down to the ground as Jake pushes in a fresh bullet and slams the rolling block breech shut once again. He fires again, this time aiming at a shoulder joint. The bullet hits the area it was intended for. More sparks fly out into he nighttime air, but the arm still functions. By the time the _Jäger_ has finished chambering a third round, the former lone wolf hears his friend give an order to her teammates.

"FREEZER BURN!"

The Dust heiress slams her rapier/Dust revolver, Myrtenaster, into the ground. A thin sheet of ice forms around her. Yang jumps into the air and activates her shotgun gauntlets before slamming into the ice as Weiss quickly retreats. Instantly the newly-formed ice evaporates into a thick mist-like fog. Jake nods his head as he notes the sudden pause his father makes, unable to see in the makeshift smokescreen.

Jake holds his fire for the moment, his shooting temporarily inhibited by the same problem as his father. Jake could still see the robot. The problem was that he could only see the general outline of his target. His precious tungsten-cored Anti-Grimm rounds were hard to make and thus always in short stock for the rifle-user. Granted, his bullets would eventually bring down the robot, but he would prefer for that to be done by expending the minimum amount of bullets required, hitting joints and other critical sections on the mechanized suit.

Thankfully, that only lasts a second before he gains not just one, but several targets on the armor. The stolen Atlas tech carries a number of laser sights all over the upper torso, and a mini-turret underneath the cockpit. Jake tracks one of the lasers on the same shoulder that he had been firing. Suddenly, a brief burst of blue lasers is launched from the arm cannons on the robotic combat armor. At that moment, the _Jäger_ squeezes the trigger of his self-built rifle.

Inside the sealed chamber, the striking pin springs forward, hitting the primer at the base of the black powder bullet. The chemical chain reaction creates the critical gases needed to propel the tungsten/lead combination bullet forward. The grooved linings inside the barrel cause the projectile to spin through the air as it exits the muzzle with a loud _bang_. A split-second later, the _Jäger_ 's bullet strikes home. One of the red laser beams disappears. Another split-second later, there is a second _bang_ and a second laser instantly vanishes.

Meanwhile, Team RWBY engages Roman's weapon system. The sole member of Team JÄGER reloads his gun when he hears the sound of Crescent Rose striking metal armor. Then Jake hears Ruby's voice again, giving a second order. While the names felt a bit odd in Jake's opinion, they did make a bit of sense, and simple to remember and execute in the heat of combat, such as right now.

"CHECKMATE!"

As the _Jäger_ knocks out a third laser, this one on the opposite shoulder, Weiss and Blake spring forward. The two 17-year olds first deliver a rapid series of strikes to the lower portion of the robot's legs. Then the SDC heiress jumps up, thrusting her thin-bladed sword directly into the sensory mini-turret underneath the armored cockpit, disabling the targeting device as the twin laser beam sights flicker out of existence. Swiftly summoning a white glyph using her semblance, Weiss back flips away from their adversary. The robotic suit stumbles back slightly before raising one of its two massive feet, intent on crushing the nearby Blake.

Weiss quickly summons a second glyph as she lands, the circular symbol appearing underneath the cat Faunus member of Team RWBY. Said teen leaps backwards just as the metal foot starts it's downwards descent. Instead of crushing the Huntress-in-training, Roman merely destroys a portion of the asphalt, sending chunks of shattered material into the air slightly. Roman then activates the missile system mounted onto the back of the robotic battle mech, sending a volley at the two unlikely friends.

A third glyph having appeared beneath their feet, Blake and Weiss perform a series of black flips. The hail of missiles fail to get a solid lock on the agile girls, slamming into the ground and detonating just seconds where they had been previously. The result is a series of bright explosions that only succeed in causing further damage to the area. Then Roman fires a single bolt of laser from each of the two arm cannons while the two girls are in mid-air. The first projectile barely manages to miss Blake. Weiss isn't so lucky, as the second bolt connects with her, sending the Dust-user flying backwards. Her Aura prevented any severe injuries to her body, but Ruby's older partner is stunned for the moment.

Before the white-haired girl hits the ground, however, Weiss summons a fourth glyph, this one having a slight golden glow to it, underneath the feet of the cat ninja. The arcane symbol looks like the face of a clock, complete with numbers and teethed cogs. Jake remembers that it is of the time-manipulation variety. Blake's body absorbs the glow as a second hail of missiles is launched. Using Gambol Shroud, the former member of the White Fang swings her weapon faster than the _Jäger_ can keep track of. A series of violet waves slices the missiles in half, causing yet another wave of harmless explosions, this time in the air.

Jake fires a fourth shot from his gun at that moment. His tungsten-core round hits the right shoulder, this time knocking off a portion of armor. As Jake reloads, Torchwick launches a single missile towards the location of his vengeful son. His brown eyes widening at the rapidly-approaching danger, Jake leaps off of the metal framework. As the cloak-wearing teen begins his free-fall, a wave of concussive force created by the nearby explosion forces Jake's body downwards. The teen has only a moment to make an attempt to brace his body before slamming onto the ground, harder than intended. His Aura goes down slightly, a portion having been spent protecting the _Jäger_ 's body and internal organs from any series damage. His cloak is heavily shredded, however, but that can be dealt with later, Jake sub-consciously reasons.

Like Weiss just moments earlier, however, Jake is stunned for a second. His brain barely manages to register the next order Ruby gives. He looks up as he starts to weakly prop up his body, trying to regain his bearings.

"LADYBUG!" the silver-eyed scythe-wielder says as she surges forward using her speed semblance, a trail of roses fluttering in the wind. Ruby Rose fires several bullets from her beloved weapon, increasing her speed even further. The girl with black-and-red hair skirts safely between the Atlas-designed and built battle suit, swinging her scythe upwards. The curved blade briefly hooks onto the bottom of Roman's stolen weapon. Like a swing, Ruby slings her body forward as she fires yet another round from her scythe/sniper rifle weapon combination. Then the youngest student in Beacon Academy and her half-sister's partner trade positions several times in rapid procession. Crescent Rose and Gambol Shroud slice into the base of the legs of their robotic foe multiple times.

When Roman tries to gain a lock on his two female assailants for his arm cannons, the fifteen- and seventeen-year old teens leap into the air before lunging down. A loud clang of metal is heard as the weapons of Ruby and Blake slice the left limb clean off. Jake starts to stand up, his hands still clutching his rifle the entire time, as the torso of the robot spins so that the cockpit faces the severed arm. The fourth member of Team RWBY strikes at that exact moment.

Using the momentary distraction to Roman Torchwick, Yang Xiao Long charges towards the back of the robot. She jumps and slams her fists into the metal surface. The strength the blonde brawler had put behind her strike was so great that the entire body of the robotic suit containing the orange-haired criminal lurches forward slightly. Yang quickly delivers several strikes using her shotgun gauntlets, further damaging the robotic form. Then Roman slams the motion controls backwards, sending the one-armed battle mech sprinting backwards. Yang and their opponent's armored shell slam through two of the concrete supports surrounding the battleground. The back (and Yang) are stopped upon hitting a third support, but hitting it hard enough to severely crack the slab.

Yang's limp form falls towards the ground. Roman turns around and slams the battle suit's remaining hand thrusts towards the blonde bombshell before she is even halfway to the ground. The punch sends Ruby's older half-sister forward, her body slamming straight through a fourth column, before hitting the ground, hard.

YANG!" a concerned Blake shouts out, worried for her partner after taking such vicious blows. Ruby looks at the dark-haired teen, surprisingly calm considering what they had just witnessed. Meanwhile, their protected opponent approaches the downed blonde, who is trying to stand up.

"Don't worry. With each hit, she gets stronger, and she uses that energy to fight back. That's what makes her special."

At that moment Roman has the mech suit sling the only remaining arm forward. Jake is impressed when he sees the sometimes-annoying blonde actually manages to block and even stop the movement. Yang looks up, her blonde hair glowing as she stares at the mechanized armor with vibrant red eyes. With a yell, she delivers her own punch. Jake's jaw widens slightly in awe as the impact actually shatters the right hand, literally disarming the robot.

After a split-second moment of hesitation, the armless battle mech lashes out with its left foot at Yang. The kick sends the blonde powerhouse of Team RWBY flying backwards. At that moment, Jake fires a fifth bullet at the same time that Ruby gives yet another coded order.

"Bumblebee!"

Jake's bullet forms another hole just below the cockpit, sparks flying out as more damage is inflected upon the now-battered piloted robot. Blake meanwhile throws the pistol part of Gambol Shroud towards Yang, the fabric connection serving as a rope that slings the red-eyed girl in a circle. Yang starts running before jumping into the air; her speed increased by the periodic shotgun blast from Ember Celica. At the last second the robot steps backwards, narrowly missing the strike Yang tried to deliver. Weiss, Ruby, and Jake notice this.

"We have to slow it down!" Ruby says as Jake stands behind the two partners, his rifle loaded with yet another tungsten-cored round. Weiss shoots a brief look at the younger girl.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

Ruby's face takes the appearance of concentration as the silver-eyed team leader quickly tries to come up with a solution. Then her expression brightens up as she says two words. "Ice Flower!"

Ruby slams the tip of her scythe into the ground in order to fire bullets, while her partner from Atlas creates a series of glyphs, this time of the ice kind. Jake and Ruby fire their weapons at the same time. Ruby's sniper round mixes with the ice elements, before it hits the upper left torso of Roman's robot. The area becomes incased by ice. Meanwhile, Jake's bullet hits the right knee joint, lodging itself into the servo and thus jamming any motions to bend.

Ruby fires several more rounds that incase other parts of the robot, while Jake fires another round to jam the other knee joint. Now immobile, the robot and its user are helpless. Using the opportunity to the fullest, Blake once more spins her louder and party-loving partner in a circle. This time, Yang's punch makes solid contact with the front of the heavily-armored cockpit.

Just as the right arm had suffered, the entire Atlas battle mech shatters into pieces. Roman is sent flying backwards, landing in the debris field. He groans for a moment before he begins to get up.

"Just got this thing cleaned," Roman complains pathetically as he stands back up amidst the ruins of the purloined battle armor. Jake rapidly raises and aims his rifle before yanking the trigger back. At the same time, the red-eyed buxom brawler fires a shotgun round from Ember Celica. For a brief moment, it appears that both projectiles while make contact with the so-called master thief. Then a small form suddenly appears directly in front of Jake's father. Both projectiles are deflected by what appears to be a parasol made of lace. Then the newcomer moves their weapon so that it is resting on their shoulder, and Jake and Team RWBY see who it is.

The four girls are surprised at the newcomer, but Jake is beyond surprised. Rather, he is stunned as he lowers rifle slightly. His eyes widen in shock, and a slight twinge of horror.

"N-Neo?"

At long last, he has been (kinda) reunited with his beloved twin sister. Ruby shoots her friend a look of concern. After all, she remembered what the _Jäger_ had told her when she was assisting in the creation of his blue-colored suit of armor. Blake and Weiss exchange confused expressions, once more taken aback by yet another surprise revelation involving their fellow student. Yang simply stares at Torchwick, her mind clouded with fury.

The 4'10" multicolored girl barely manages to mask her own surprise, as well as a flicker of fear as he eyes briefly turn white. Then they shift to back to brown and pink. But Jake notices a swift series of subtle motions with his sister's free hand, which are blocked from being detected by their father due to her keeping it close to her side. Jake's eyes widen and then narrow in anger as he realizes what she is 'saying' to him. Jake shifts his head slightly to give a subtle nod to her, eyes still fixed on their cocky surviving parent.

"Ladies, son, Ice Queen-"

"HEY!" an indignant Weiss interrupts with a shout. Roman merely ignores it and continues to speak.

"-always a pleasure. I have a…'friend' named Unichtozheniye who is _simply dying_ to meet you! So, if you don't mind…" He trails off for a moment with a sinister smirk. Then the orange-haired bastard turns his head towards his mute daughter. "Neo, if you would."

Neo gives a bow to her twin brother and Team RWBY. Jake is the only one who manages to see the sad expression in her eyes as she straightens up. At the same time, Yang, eyes and hair still glowing, shouts furiously as she charges forward, her left arm prepared to swing with all her might. Jake shakes his head when he hears the sound of glass breaking. Neo had used her semblance to escape, which the other four girls realize when they hear the whine of two engines and see the Bullhead that Roman and Neopolitan have used as a getaway vehicle.

"So, I guess he got a new henchman," Yang says as her eyes return to their normal lilac hue.

"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans…"fall apart", huh?" Weiss says. Jake barely manages to slap his face. Thankfully, Blake speaks up on what the Dust heiress just did.

"No, just…no."

"What? But you do it!" the Schnee protests.

"There's a time and a place for jokes," Yang replies.

"Was this not it?"

"No, it was just not very good." A cross expression appears on the face of Ruby's older partner.

"Well, at least I'm trying!"

Before the blonde and the glyph-user can get at it any more, Ruby clears her throat. She appears slightly nervous, and for good reason.

"Um, guys…what about Torchwick's friend he mentioned?" Jake looks at her, his body tensing, ready for a fight. Was it just his imagination, or did a small stream of dust (the regular, non-elemental kind) just appear between the five teens? Then a loud whirl of electronic servos and clanking sounds are heard, causing the teens to look up. Jake gives a warning cry just as the distinct sounds of blades being drawn are heard.

"MOVE!"

The five Beacon Academy students move forward just in time as a mass of metal slams into the ground. A 7-foot humanoid-shaped, skeletal-like robot looks down at them with its single, glowing red eye that is mounted in the center of its head. A single-edged sword that has a slight forward-bulging curve to it is wielded by the mechanical being's clawed right hand. In the left hand, a duel-edged sword with a thick blade that has two spike-like edges just a few inches below the sharp tip, the result being the appearance of the letter 'T'. A cape dances in the wind as it attacks.

Jake, his saber drawn, has a sinking feeling in his gut as the upper torso of the robot begins to spin after blocking several sword strikes from Weiss and Blake. The robot pushes towards Jake, who is only just able to block the spinning blades. Then the robot stops, and makes a rapid series of slashes that Jake continues to block. Team RWBY attempts to attack the robot's back, but once again it manages to block multiple attacks with extreme skill. At one point, it even inverts its entire body in a sort of hand stand. The wicked-looking swords are held in talon-carrying feet as it continues to block with ridicules ease.

Suddenly it flips back onto its feet before leaping towards Jake. The _Jäger_ manages to narrowly avoid the attack by jumping backwards several feet. As the two swords smash into the ground and throw up a thin cloud of dust, Jake is switching to his rifle and firing a single round. To his shock and horror, the new attacker simply leaps into the air, its feet slamming into the surface of a nearby support column. The four girls of Team RWBY also have astonished looks on their faces as they turn to face the robot. Said foe pushes itself forward in yet another leap. It lands in the center of the rough circle the four girls had formed instinctively.

Jake sees that a large cloud of dust and tiny debris is kicked up. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake are sent flying backwards. Yang simply braces herself against the shockwave created from the impact. The blonde, her eyes red once again, charges forward with a shout. She swings her fists hard several times in rapid succession, trying to land at least one hit in that damned glowing eye. With ease, the fists and shotgun blasts are deflected by the twin swords the robot has deftly used.

For a brief second, the teen brawler leaves a brief opening. The robot slams the blunt end of its right sword into her gut. Surprised, the blonde is driven to one knee as the air is expelled from the hit. A hand covers the area that had been hit as she briefly lowers her head. Using the pommel of the left sword, the robot slams the metal into the back of Yang's head. With a moan, Yang slumps forward onto her stomach as her eyes roll into the back of her head.

A stunned Ruby quickly fires a rapid series of sniper rounds from Crescent Rose at the thing that had knocked out her older half-sister. This time the robotic fiend simply knocks the rounds out of the air with the flat of its blades. The fact that the metal isn't shattering indicates to Jake that the metal is incredibly strong. As if the _Jäger_ didn't already have enough to worry about in regards to this robot.

In the meantime, Weiss lunges forward, trying to use Myrtenaster to skewer the robot as it continues to deflect Ruby's bullets with ease. Not even turning towards the Schnee, it simply grabs the front of Weiss's shirt in one of its clawed feet. The stunned Weiss drops her weapon as her assailant slams her into the ground, knocking her out. Ruby stops firing as she stares slack-jawed at the thing decimating her teammates. Blake lunges through the air. With the other foot, the robot also grabs her as it performs a back flip. The two girls are firmly knocked out when they hit the ground hard. But at least they are alive.

Now alone, Jake, having switched back to his well-used saber, and Ruby both engage the robot. Ruby ducks down as it tries to lop her head off, while Jake is once again denied the ability of making solid contact on the metallic shell with his saber. Suddenly, yet another surprise is in store for the two unofficial partners.

Both of the metal hands belonging to the robot begin to rotate rapidly. The metal blades become blurry as both teens take a half-step backwards in surprise. For the first time in his life, Jake feels completely out-classed as he stares at the metallic circle of death. Then the two team leaders try to strike their opponent. After several hits blocked by the two rotating weapons, Jake prepares to swing his saber down in an overhead strike. Suddenly a foot slams into his chest, sending him flying backwards several yards, his saber skirting close by. Ruby is now left alone, and struggles to hold off the vicious onslaught of the robot that is now solely focused on the silver-eyed girl. Jake groans as he pushes himself upright.

"Jake! Hurry!" a panicked Ruby shouts. Jake quickly shakes his head at that, his face scrunching up in focus as he sprints forward, faster than he ever had before, saber already prepared for a horizontal strike to the torso of the robot. At that moment, The T-shaped sword slams into the shaft of Ruby's scythe, the force knocking it out of her hands. The flat of the second sword knocks her down as the robot prepares to strike her down. This time, it appears to be with the intent to kill the youngest teen of the group.

"NOOOO!" Jake roars as he moves towards Ruby, intent on blocking the descending metal blades. The stunned girl merely looks up with a shocked expression in her eyes. She closes her distinctive eyes and prepares for the nothingness to follow when she hears the sound of metal clanging and then shattering. Then she feels some shards of steel land on her chest, and Ruby opens her eyes.

At the cost of the majority of Jake's blade, the _Jäger_ 's saber had barely managed to intercept the otherwise fatal strike. Now left with only the hilt and a shattered stump of jagged steel, Jake stands protectively over his closest friend. Both Ruby and the robot notice the sudden sight of a necklace around his neck. Ruby hadn't noticed it until now, so he must have hidden it beneath his shirt. It is peculiar, a bronze-colored coin with some type of writing around the edges. In the center is a square-shaped gap, where a plain brown leather cord holds it.

To their surprise, the robot straightens its back suddenly. Then it turns and runs off, leaving behind three groaning teen girls starting to regain conscience, and panting rifle-wielder, and a stunned 15-year old girl. As Jake helps his friend up, Ruby gazes with concern at him.

"Jake-" Ruby begins to say before said teen holds up his hand, stopping her.

"We'll talk about it when we get back to Beacon. For now, let's go help the others, and then get the hell out of here."

 **And done! As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story, you all rock! Please feel free to leave review, though, or comment down below, or follow/favorite! Also, to TopHatGuy, I'm not giving Jake a 20mm anti-tank rifle. But that doesn't mean that we won't be seeing any such weapon at all. Until next week or sooner! Next chapter: Fallout**


	16. XV Fallout

**Jäger Chapter Fifteen: Fallout**

 **MorgothII: Hello again, short chapter this time. Its one of those filler-type chapters. However, please read the Author's Notes down below, it pertains to the story! Now, enjoy!**

"Are you sure of what you saw, Unichtozheniye?" A mildly-cross Cinder Fall speaks quietly into her Scroll. The robotic voice of her newest tool answers without any hesitation. Her fury over Roman Torchwick's fuck-up is cooled slightly by the information her latest tool at her disposal, named Unichtozheniye.

"Affirmative, Master Cinder. A bronze coin with ancient markings and a central, square-shaped hole, attached to a plain brown leather chord. Only a few who are neither in the order or against us even know of that Order, let alone the symbol its members carried. Do you have any instructions regarding him?"

Standing behind their leader, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai exchange nervous looks. Cinder hadn't mentioned a hidden member of the Order. This would very much complicate an already difficult plan. However, they hold their tongues, neither of them daring to incur Cinder's frustrations. While his life would be safe for now, Roman would not be getting off lightly for his mistake tonight. Meanwhile, the raven-haired woman falls silent for a minute. Her bright glowing eyes narrow slightly in concentration. Then she breaks the silence.

"Stay out of sight for now, and await further instructions," She says, her seductive voice bearing an even tone. Cinder then ends the call before tossing her Scroll on the bed she uses that were included in the dorm room they had been assigned to. Her posture calm, though that is a complete lie.

"We will have to be very careful at the dance. Emerald, Mercury, you two will need to make sure that you keep an eye on Mr. Jake at all times. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"So what do we do for now?"

Cinder looks out the window towards the ruins of Mountain Glenn. "Nothing…for now. Just proceed with our original plan."

"Who was that girl?"

A tired Jake Torchwick looks up at the scowling face of Yang Xiao Long. The blonde half-sister of Ruby Rose towers over him as the _Jäger_ sits down on the bed of his dorm room. At the foot of the bed, the leader of Team RWBY sits on the bed as well. Her silver eyes flicker back and forth between her friend and her older sister, nervous. Blake Belladonna leans against the door of the sole member of Team JÄGER's room. Weiss Schnee sits daintily on the chair that has been pulled away from Jake's work bench.

They had just snuck back into Beacon a few hours ago. After a barrage of sternly-worded texts towards Neptune and Sun for their disappearance act, the three 17-year old girls of Jake's friend's team needed to relax in their own methods after getting knocked out b a mysterious robotic assailant. His bayonet at his belt, the _Jäger_ had hung his rifle over the head of his bed, with all of his remaining tungsten-cored, Anti-Grimm bullets nearby on the plain oak nightstand. His cloak was on top of his work bench, the boy unsure of whether he should get a new cloak or continue to wear the now-extremely torn and ragged article of brown fabric.

In the back of his mind, Jake thanks the heavens that Yang isn't in a pun-making mood. Otherwise, she would probably say that his cloak was now 'hole-y', which might not be as bad as most of her 'funny' comments tend to be.

His brown eyes move back down towards the object he holds in his hands. The shattered hilt and lower-portion of his saber. It had been broken while saving the life of his closest friend. Thus, the loss isn't completely negative, nor does that leave Jake without a sword. The _katana_ underneath his bed is proof of that. Still gazing at the object he is holding, Jake answers in a steady, emotionless voice, his gruffness having returned.

"That was Neo, my twin sister. And I am going to rescue her."

Weiss raises a single eyebrow. "I hate to be a downer, but it looked like to me that your sister seemed to be quite content working with your…father," She says. Jake's head turns towards her.

"She 'spoke' to me using her hand. Before Roman murdered our mother, we had developed a secret code using our hands. Only Neo and I know how it works. That is how I know she needs assistance."

"Why?"

Jake now turns to look at Blake. "Our 'beloved' father has placed a small bomb at the back of her neck. He is forcing her to work for him. Thankfully, I already have a plan to counter that. A short-range and mobile signal jammer that would be kept close to Neo. That would prevent Torchwick from detonating the explosive until we can safely remove it from Neo's neck. I will start working on it tomorrow night," the _Jäger_ answers, this time his voice containing trace amounts of confidence. Ruby speaks up now.

"What about that robot thing? Any idea about that, Jake?"

Said teen shakes his head once. "No, not even close. What I do know is that Blake is correct about something going on with the White Fang. What we didn't know was just how much it was. I suspect that there are several more players in this game, hiding in the shadows until the time is right. For now, let's keep this between us. Agreed?"

Reluctantly, Team RWBY all nods their heads in agreement. Then the black-and-red haired friend of the somewhat-former lone wolf speaks up again.

"What about your saber? How are you going to replace it?" Ruby asks the _Jäger_. Jake gives a sly smile to his friend.

Suddenly and without warning, Jake throws the remains of his ruined saber onto his work bench. The jagged end of the significantly shortened blade is embed in the thick wood. As the four stunned girls look at the object, they do not notice Jake reaching underneath his bed and grabbing a long, covered object. The four teens turn around when the room is filled with the shrill ringing sound of a blade being drawn. Their eyes widen in shock and awe at the _katana_ held before them.

"Oh wow…" Ruby says, practically drooling in awe. Like the _Jäger_ 's saber that is now being replaced, it is a sword that doesn't change form like Crescent Rose. But the beauty she sees in the slightly curved blade isn't diminished in even the slightest. The silvery sides of and edge are unmarred by either age or damage, and halfway between the hilt and the center of the blade on either side is a long, seprtine-like dragon, with two deer-like horns on its head, whiskers like a catfish, and four limbs each carrying three claws.

"This is Sōryū. This sword was created countless centuries before. Few blades are equal in its strength or edge. It has been passed down throughout the generations to only those deemed worthy. And now, I have the honor of being the next wielder. Now, it is late. We need to rest, so good night. I will see you guys in the morning," Jake says as he sheathes Sōryū. In the meantime Ruby gets up off his bed, nodding as she fails to hide a yawn.

"Yeah, you're right Jake. Let's go guys. Night Jake, see you in the morning," the silver-eyed girl says as she and her three older teammates exit the _Jäger_ 's dorm.

Now alone, the son of Roman Torchwick gently grips the coin that only Ruby and that demonic robot had seen. He isn't pleased with having to lie, even slightly, to his new friend. But for now, it is for her own safety. Jake only hopes that he will not regret this. Then he swiftly climbs into bed, eventually following into a restless sleep that would plagued by nightmares and memories.

 **And done. Sorry if the ending was a bit sloppy, but as I said, this chapter was suppose to be nothing more than a short filler. As always, thanks for reading, leave a review, comment, thought, etcetera down below. Now it is time to get to brass tacks. I am opening up my pm box, or in the case of those who don't have an account just yet, my review section for the creation of your own OCs who might be featured later on in the story. Here are the requirements down below:**

 **Name:**

 **Species:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Height:**

 **Hair and eye color:**

 **Weapon(s):**

 **Semblance:**

 **Personality and background:**

 **Anyways, have a great week and I will see you guys soon in the next chapter of Jäger! Next time: A Question.**


	17. XVI A Question

**Jäger Chapter Sixteen: A Question**

 **MorgothII: Hello again! Worked on this for most of yesterday and a little bit of this morning, so I hope you enjoy this surprise early chapter! This chapter will see the start of the pairing that one of you readers had suggested/told me (thankful shout-out to Lord Adhes!) and been long promised since I posted this story and included it in the summary, CrossFire. Anyways, on with the story!**

Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY, is sitting down in a wooden chair, leaning on a simple wood table. One of her arms rests on the table, the other against her head, propping it up. A rarely-seen glum expression is on the adorable face of the usually cheerful fifteen-year old scythe wielder. She stares towards the floor of the main hall, her head rushing with thoughts.

It had been two and a half weeks since the incident with Torchwick, Neo, and the robot apparently named Unichtozheniye. Life at Beacon Academy had carried on like normal. Weiss Schnee was still the Ice Queen of Vale. Yang Xiao Long was still the 'humorous' party-loving blonde. Jake Torchwick, also known better as the _Jäger_ , had been constantly practicing his swordsmanship, when not working on the pocket-sized signal jammer he was building for his twin sister, And Ruby was still the youngest Huntress-in-training at Beacon, weapon- and cookie-loving team leader. The only thing not normal was the secret cat Faunus member of Jake's semi-sister team.

Blake Belladonna had slept little during this time, becoming obsessed with stopping the White Fang. In addition to a lack of proper rest, she wasn't eating well, and as Weiss had noted, her grades were also suffering. So Ruby, her partner, and older sister had tried to stage an intervention. They had tried to make Blake go to the dance being held at Beacon his weekend, planned by the cat ninja's partner and Weiss in lieu of the absent Team CVFY. But the noticeably-tired Blake had rebuffed their efforts as a waste of time, before stalking off to the academy's library.

Hence part of the reason for Ruby's sad mood. Because tomorrow was the night of the big dance. And Team RWBY would be going with at least one member absent. And maybe a more persona-

 _THUD!_

Her train of thought is abruptly derailed as the table shakes slightly. Ruby looks up, slightly startled at the slapping sound Weiss just created when she slaps two seemingly-identical swaths of fabric on the table. She looks up at her partner. Said girl's pale blue eyes sparkle with energy.

"I need you to pick a table cloth," she says, sliding the two samples towards the silver-eyed girl. Ruby looks at them for a moment, trying to see if there is a difference. Then she speaks her mind.

"Aren't they both the same?" She asks, confused. Weiss lets out a drawn-out sigh. The energetic look dies down a bit as she crumples one of the two samples in her hand.

"Ugh, I don't even know why I asked." Then the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company stomps off, passing by Yang. The buxom brawler is carrying a large set of speakers. When she puts the device down near the table Ruby is seated at, Yang's younger sister, the chair, and table jump into the air slightly. But that still doesn't gain too much of a response from the seemingly-depressed scythe wielder. Yang walks over to her sister, looking down at her with her hands on her hips.

"So, have you picked out a dress yet?" Ruby turns her head slightly to face her, now resting on her arm spread along the table.

"What's the point?" She asks glumly. "Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?" _And that I don't think Jake will go either_. The past few weeks had been particularly hard on her. She had managed to ignore the warm feelings she had felt towards her rifle-wielding and unofficial partner for a few months. But during the break, Ruby had started to feel that the feelings might not be just friendly. But still the black-and-red haired girl did her best to ignore them.

All of her efforts came to naught when the _Jäger_ had sacrificed his saber to save her life.

The only other person who knew (so far as it was to her knowledge) was Yang. She had told her more socially-comfortable sister last night. To her surprise, all she had received was a smile, a nod, and a comment about her having made a good pick. And more importantly, a promise to not slam Jake into the wall and threaten him like she had so-often joked about doing, Of course, Ruby had no idea if he would also return he feelings, or even go to the dance at all, regardless of asking him.

"Oh don't worry, she is going, and I am pretty sure that someone else will be as well," The blonde says, a confidant smile on her face. Then she turns around, her expression morphing into one of frustration. "WEISS! I thought we agreed! No doilies!" Said co-party planner storms over, angrily jabbing a finger towards the taller blonde's face.

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines," the glyph-wielder threatens. At that moment, the doors to the room swing open, causing her to turn around to see Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias entering. The blue-haired teen addresses the two party planners.

"Your dance is going to have fog machines?" He asks causally, walking closer. At once the heiress changes her mood...and her stance about said party device. She answers in a sweet tone, completely at odds with how she had been seconds earlier, while stepping closer to her 'secret' crush.

"We were thinking about it."

"That's pretty cool," Neptune says, causing Weiss to smile slightly. Then Sun walks up and speaks.

"You ladies all excited for dress up?" the Mistral-hailing monkey Faunus says. Ruby, her head now raised once more, scoffs.

"Pft. Yeah right."

"Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night," Yang retorts cockily, her head raised to the ceiling. Weiss turns back to the two visiting Haven students.

"What are you two wearing?" Sun scoffs at this before answering.

"Um…this?" He says, gesturing at the open t-shirt he wears that exposes his abs and chest. Then his friend and partner steps in front of him, blocking the Faunus for the moment.

"Ignore him; for he knows not what he says," Neptune comments. Then Sun shoves himself back in front again.

"I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt and tie kind of place," He retorts.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all share deadpan stares. Then the blonde answers for all three of RWY.

"Yeah, we've noticed." Sun rubs the back of his head awkwardly for a moment before changing the topic.

"So, uh, what does Blake think of all this? She still being all, you know…Blake-y?"

Weiss looks away, unhappy about the situation just as much as her younger partner. "Obviously."

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind," Ruby adds despairingly. Then Yang jumps back in.

"Guys…Trust me, Blake will be at the dance tomorrow," She says, smirking, before starting to walk out of the room. Just before she reaches the doors, however, she turns back to her beloved little sister. "Oh, and Ruby, you _are_ going to ask him to the dance _right now!_ " A startled Ruby falls onto her back. Yang then closes the door behind her with a laugh. Weiss helps up her younger teammate.

"And you are going to do so, right now," She says in a tone brooking no argument. When Ruby shoots her a questioning look, the heiress simply shrugs. "Yang filled me in this morning. So don't be a dunce about this and go on." Seeing that she has no way out of doing so, Ruby shoulders slump down, defeated.

"Fine. I'll go ask Jake right now."

 **Ten Minutes Later…**

Inside the private confines of the dorm room he has been assigned, Jake Torchwick is hunched over his work table. The young assassin is working on the increasingly-important signal jammer. After a few failed attempts, and a barely-prevented fire, Jake is almost done with the device. He plans on finishing it by tomorrow night, as the dance would keep everyone away and not interrupt him.

A knock on the door of his dorm room causes the _Jäger_ to pause his work. "It's open," He grunts, quickly resuming his progress on the mechanical device on his desk. The door is pushed open to the halfway point. An obviously-nervous Ruby steps inside, slowly walking towards her friend. Once she is standing next to him, she stands silently, her hands constantly fidgeting with one another. Even with his attention being more focused on the nearly-complete signal jammer than on his friend, Jake can clearly tell that she really wants to say something, but yet she also can't do so.

Finally, Jake pauses in his work and looks up. He arches an eyebrow as his brown eyes meet her silver ones. "What's up Ruby? Cat got your tongue?" He asks gently. Ruby's cheeks blush slightly. _'Interesting,'_ Jake thinks to himself, his own curiosity growing. Ruby finally opens her mouth, stuttering slightly as she speaks in a somewhat meek tone.

"W-well, you know how there is a d-dance this Friday?"

"Yes…?" Jake asks, resuming his work on the device in front of him.

"W-w-well, I was wondering…if you weren't busy…or already been asked…would you go to the dance with me?" Ruby finally asks, her face almost as crimson as her beloved hood and cape. Jake calmly continues to work on the jammer, having unintentionally half-tuned her out. Thus he doesn't realize just what she has asked him. Or for that matter, what the scythe-wielder might be implying. He responds immediately.

"Sure."

Behind his back, Ruby's uniquely-colored eyes seem to glow with joy. She barely manages to retrains herself from jumping up and down, instead settling to squeal happily on the inside. What she does next catches the _Jäger_ completely off-guard.

"Thanks Jake! I got to go get a dress, so I'll see you tomorrow. Good night!" Ruby says rapidly, the words seemingly blurring together for a few moments. Then she impulsively leans forward and plants a light kiss on Jake's right cheek. Then she spins around on her heels and rushes out the half-open door, activating her speed semblance on accident. A thin carpet of rose petals settles both in his room and in the hallway as the black-and-red haired girl runs to find her teammates, and more importantly, her much more party-savvy older sister.

For about a minute, Jake continues to work in silence, his brain not fully processing what had just happened. When it does, his eyes widen. His body freezes, the screwdriver in his hand only a fraction of an inch away from the screw the _Jäger_ had been about to spin into place. His brain replays what he had just been asked and his response. In all his time of fighting, shooting, killing, lying, and other deeds, there had been only a few moments when he had been truly stunned. This was one such moment, and it took the cake.

Ruby Rose, his best (by default of being pretty much his only friend he feels comfortable around, though the rest of her team might be considered friends, as their work on investigating the White Fang and their still-hidden benefactors saw them working much closer) friend, had just asked him out to the dance. Potentially as a date.

And he had said yes.

"Oh boy," Jake mutters to himself aloud as he places the screwdriver down on the table. As he leans backwards and stretches against his chair, another thought comes to mind. "Shit."

The _Jäger_ would probably have to deal with the rather over-protective Yang. Then an even worse realization occurs.

The dance is tomorrow, and he needs a suit.

"Fuck!" He quietly shouts, reaching for his Scroll. With a little bit of luck, Junior will have something ready for him. Which said club owner and his secret-information source will probably get a laugh or two out of this. Despite his overall frustrated expressions being shown on his exterior, however, a small smile starts to form on his lips. With a little more such luck, tomorrow would be a fun and great night for both him and Ruby.

 **And done! I have officially begun the romance between Jake '** _ **Jäger**_ **' Torchwick and Ruby Rose! Sorry if this has any feelings of being rushed, but hey, I did my best. A second thanks to the guest reviewer from awhile back who suggested waiting until the dance to start building a romantic relationship around the time of the Beacon Academy dance from Volume 2. Anyways, as always, thank you for taking the time to read my story, please feel free to leave a review, comment, or your thoughts on the story so far down below! Until next time, have a great day! (Also, as today is March 21** **st** **, 3/21, I dub today '3, 2, 1, GO!' day) Next chapter: A Night to Remember!**


	18. XVII A Night to Remember

**Jäger Chapter Seventeen: A Night to Remember**

 **MorgothII: Hello again! Sorry for this chapter being shorter and most likely a let-down considering its importance, but I reached a writer's block for making it more detailed and still be able to maintain my goal of at least one chapter a week. I will make a one-shot soon that will be more detailed about the dance, but you can read a bit more about this and some other announcements at the bottom, so on with the story!**

The normally-stoic seventeen-year-old boy known by most as the _Jäger_ , and only a select few by his actual name of Jake Torchwick, stares uncomfortably at the sole mirror in his dorm room. "I fucking hate ties," he growls, trying to loosen the glorified noose. Thankfully, a laughing Hei Xiong had been able to supply a suit that fit a scowling _Jäger_ perfectly. Jake had no idea what his 'date' (the almost-always confidant teen had no idea whether it was an actual one or not), Ruby Rose, would be wearing. Instead, she (through a surprisingly-calm Yang Xiao Long) had said that he should wait for her near the reception stand that Yang would be operating for the opening stages of tonight's dance party.

Jake checks the clock. It is almost time to head out. He takes a deep breath to help steady his nerves. _'Oh for the love of all things holy, you have never been even a hint nervous when you're killing a large group of armed terrorists on your own. But when a girl, even if this is the first time it has happened, asks you out to a dance before giving you a kiss on the check, you become a nervous wreck!'_ chides the logical part of his brain. Jake then exhales, his nervousness being partially sedated. He then begins to slowly walk towards the door in his dorm room.

As he grips and prepares to twist the door knob, Jake shoots one quick longing look at the sheathed _Sōryū_. Inside his mind, Jake debates about whether or not he should bring the ancient sword. Finally, his tactical side wins. The _Jäger_ grabs the _katana_ and attaches it to his belt. He grunts in approval, having felt a bit awkward without the weight of his sword at his side. Then he exits the room.

 **Later…**

"Looking pretty sharp there, Jake! It _suits_ you very well!" Yang chortles as Jake enters the dance room. Said teen boy rolls his brown-hued eyes to the roof slightly in mild frustration. Yang and her dammed puns. Then a slightly devious smirk comes to his face as he addresses the buxom blonde, who was wearing a simple but rather elegant white dress.

"Snowman," He says in a slightly deadpan voice. The results are immediate, and for Jake, a bit humorous.

Her lilac-colored eyes widen for a fraction of a second. During that same amount of time, her face takes a somewhat haunted appearance. She shakes her blonde head slightly as she recovers, addressing her younger sister's 'date'.

"No…just no. Never again. Moving on, so Ruby will be here shortly…."

As Yang goes on and on, Jake starts to tune out the brawler, and powerhouse, of Team RWBY. Instead, he notices the three supposed students claiming to be from Haven Academy. The green-haired girl and silver-haired boy appear to be dancing, while their leader watches from a shadowy corner. For now, they appear to be simply enjoying the dance. Still, the _Jäger_ is wary. He knows something is up. Jake just doesn't know what it is just yet, and that makes him slightly nervous.

Jake's attention becomes focused on the present once more as Yang suddenly speaks up. The already super-energetic blonde brawler suddenly becomes even more enthusiastic, bouncing up and down slightly a few times as she addresses the latest person to enter the temporary dance room. When Jake hears what she says, he looks up.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" She coos. Meanwhile, the _Jäger_ 's lower jaw drops slightly, even if it lasts for only a tiny fraction of a second. The girl in front of him is still Ruby Rose, but yet at the same time, completely different, save for her unique black-and-red hair and silver eyes.

For the first time in his life, Jake sees his unofficial (and formerly semi-resented) partner (and friend, and maybe even lover?) not wearing her beloved red caped hood. Granted, he has seen her in her pajamas without it, but that didn't count in his view. The young scythe-wielder wears heels, though Jake can't help but notice that her panty-hose covered legs are shaking slightly. Ruby wears a red dress that stops just above her knees and starts full-covering her body from her chest down. The dress has no sleeves, though a slight choker is at the base of the neck of the leader of Team RWBY. Jake idly notes in the corner of his mind not in awe that it seems to be partially responsible for holding up his dance partner's outfit. A thin, see-through layer of fabric covers the area between her neck and chest, though her shoulders are also bare.

"Ah, can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" Ruby asks, being a little bit uncomfortable to the different footwear. She also doesn't immediately notice the awed look on Jake's face, or even the presence of her (apparently not-so-secret) crush. As if on cue, she lets out a slight yelp as she stumbles forward, still unsure of how to walk with heels, apparently. Yang holds a hand in front of her mouth in an attempt to hide her amusement at her little sister.

As his younger classmate continues to stumble forward, leaning closer and closer to the ground while trying to regain her balance, Jake shakes his head slightly. Before the silver-eyed Huntress-in-training could fall on her face, the _Jäger_ gently grips her shoulder and helps her up.

"Easy Ruby, I've got you. Your sister is right, by the way," Jake says kindly to his best friend as Ruby somewhat regains her balance. She blushes slightly before replying.

"Thanks Jake. To be honest, I hope I never have to wear these kinds of shoes _ever again_ ," She says frankly. Jake chuckles in response before replying with his own thoughts.

"And I hope the same with these damn suits and ties. Bad enough we have to wear something similar in class, but even that is too much for me."

The sound of someone loudly clearing their throat causes the two fighters to stop talking. Yang looks at them with a smirk. "Glad to see that you two are bonding over clothing bashing, but I think you would enjoy being on the dance floor instead of blocking the door," Ruby's older half-sister suggests. After quickly sharing a glance first at the door, then at each other, the two team leaders quickly move deeper into the rather crowded room.

 **Half an hour later…**

The night had been a rather pleasant night overall for both the _Jäger_ and his unofficial partner. As the slow dance song he and Ruby, neither of them realize that their heads are getting closer and closer, until their noses are almost touching. Lost in each other's eyes, they lean in just a little bit closer.

The kiss is not only the first full kiss between the rifle-wielder hunter and scythe-wielding silver-eyed girl, but it is also the first time either of them has kissed someone on the lips. It is not a simple, unrefined kiss full of wild passion. Rather, it is a gentle match of lips. While it lasts for only a few seconds, the moment seems to stretch for almost an eternity as the two realize what they are doing, eyes widening slightly, not in horror, but surprise that is pleasant for at least one of them.

Then the embrace of their mouths is broken as Jake straightens up slowly. Even as her own pale cheeks flush a bright crimson, Ruby is treated to a rare sight. The normally stoic Jake is also blushing. As socially awkward as the fifteen-year-old girl is, even she can tell that her friend and crush is feeling rather unsure of what he should feel about the kiss.

"Man, I am beat. Let's take a break for the next few songs. Why don't you go grab some punch for us?" She suggests, biting her lip as her insides become consumed with a mixture of hope and anxiety. Best case scenario, Jake returns the black-and-red haired girl's feelings. Worst case scenario would have Yang probably going on a rampage, and also her ruining her friendship with the still overall solitary _Jäger_.

Jake nods silently before he heads off to the refreshments table. Once he is out of sight, she exhales slowly. Ruby then heads outside, thinking that maybe some fresh air would help calm her down. She would be back inside before long, and maybe by then Jake will have made up his mind about how their relationship/interactions should proceed from now on. She grabs Crescent Rose out of habit from where she had placed the scythe/sniper rifle combination weapon alongside almost all of the other weapons, aside from Jake's blade, _Sōryū_ , which was attached to the belt of said teen boy, had been placed by the students.

Meanwhile, as Jake finishes pouring some punch into two plastic cups, having passed by a silently-determined (probably something to do with Weiss Schnee once again) Jaune Arc who had just left the same table, he notices that two people are missing from the room: Ruby Rose, and the amber-eyed woman in charge of the suspected infiltration team pretending to be from Haven. The combination of the two absent females makes the _Jäger_ nervous once more. _'I'll deal with the whole kissing Ruby later.'_

Just then Jake feels his Scroll go off in his left pocket. Swiftly moving towards a vacant table near the exit, he places the two cups down before pulling out the electronic device. As he reads the message, his gaze takes a mixture of horror and determination as he reads the contents of the message sent by Junior.

 _One of my boys reported that he saw someone wearing a mask just entered the CCTV tower. Something tells me that I don't think it's simply a late-night tourist going for a sight-seeing tour. Also, just got a second message that reports that a certain scythe-wielding teen is heading towards the tower as well-Junior_

"Fuck!" Jake whispers harshly, drinks now completely forgotten. He runs for the exit. Ruby may be a skilled fighter, but if this woman is who Jake suspects it to be, his dance partner is going to be in way over her head. He only hopes that he can make it in time as he grips the hilt of his _katana_ , ready to fight.

 **And done! Again, sorry for the let-down, just ran out of time for my schedule and a bad writer's block. Next chapter might hopefully partially make up for this. That should be up either by the end of this week or next week. Also, I will be posting a brand-new story that talks a bit more about this 'Order' that has been mentioned recently. The first chapter will be up today. Anyways, thanks again for reading and all, leave reviews/comments down below, have a great week, and until next time! Next chapter: Jake Torchwick Versus Cinder Fall.**


	19. XVIII Jake Torchwick versus Cinder Fall

**Jäger Chapter Eighteen: Jake Torchwick versus Cinder Fall**

 **MorgothII: Hey guys, just wanted to give you two heads-up. The first one is that this is a short chapter, and the second is that there is a special message/shout-out down below in the second part of my Author's Notes. Now, enjoy reading the eighteenth chapter of this story! :)**

Pounding footsteps shatters the overall silent nighttime air. The _Jäger_ 's hands both grip the hilt of the still-sheathed _Sōryū_ , ready to draw the ancient _katana_ at a moment's notice. As Jake draws closer to the CCTV tower, what he sees does not bode well with his unease. The supposedly well-guarded tower is unguarded. A few seconds and a closer look later reveal a number of prone soldiers. That means that the odds of who he thinks the masked female intruder really is have just increased greatly. It also means that if Ruby is also heading up there, then the silver-eyed leader of Team RWBY has no idea just how outclassed she will find herself to be.

An already-at-maximum-speed _Jäger_ pushes himself to go even faster. He slams his fist against the up button for the elevator and waits impatiently. His body has taken on a fighting stance. Jake barely registers the two unconscious soldiers on the floor of the elevator as he waits for it to finish its ascent. He hopes that it won't be too late. _'I won't let another person who is close to me be killed ever again. Not like mother,'_ He thinks coldly, his nerves slowly starting to freeze in a fury that is colder than the highest mountains of Atlas.

As he hunches down slightly, ready to draw his sword, Jake hears the sounds of fighting as the doors open. He sees the masked infiltrator leaping backwards into the air. A glass bow forms in her hands as three broad-headed arrows, also made of glass, appear when she draws her right arm back like she would do with a typical bow. As she aims at Ruby, who is in the midst of lifting the tip of Crescent Rose out of the floor from what must have been one of her leaping downward strikes, the _Jäger_ makes his own massive leap forward.

"RUBY! LOOK OUT!"

Just as the woman launches her trio of arrows, Jake Torchwick lands in-between the two females. Faster than either of them can track, Jake strikes like a coiled viper. In a single fluid motion that could only come from either a natural sword-wielder and/or years of practice, the sole member of Team JÄGER slices all three arrows at once with _Sōryū_ , having not paused as the _katana_ was being drawn from its black lacquered sheath.

Not content with having just disrupted the masked fighter's attack, however, Jake pushes his offensive. His opponent switches to her two swords, also made of glass, probably some sort of hard kind and razor-sharp, just like obsidian. The woman with raven-black hair barely manages to parry the eager blade of _Sōryū_. The powerful metal that makes up the blade causes the twin objects blocking it to crack ever so slightly.

Jake and his feminine foe exchange a rapid series of slashes and thrusts that are blocked by the other. Metal slices through the air as the _katana_ gladly sings its song of death. Glass cracks as metal then clangs against them, slowly starting to break underneath the superior materials Jake's blade was made of long ago. As a diagonal slash is deflected, Jake's brown eyes see a brief gap in the masked infiltrator's guard. The _Jäger_ , his face revealing nothing of his actual strike, feints with an overhead strike. His opponent raises her own swords into the air slightly, crossing them in a loose _X_ shape over her head. With her focus on Jake's upper body, the amber-eyed fighter fails to notice the tall teen's right knee moving upwards.

With a slight grunt of mostly surprise, but also some pain, a large amount of air is forced out of the woman's lungs as the _Jäger_ 's knee strike delivers a solid hit to her midriff. She stumbles backwards a few feet before looking up. Her bright amber eyes glare with pure hatred and malice as Jake returns to his fighting stance, both hands firmly grasping the hilt of _Sōryū_. Most opponents would probably be trembling under her gaze at the moment, but Jake doesn't even appear to notice it, maintaining his trademark stoic expression throughout his body. Meanwhile, Ruby also moves up, stopping and taking her own ready stance a few yards behind her dance partner and friend/crush.

"So she has finally begun her latest plan, huh? Well, agent of Salem, I have this to say. The Order is no longer in a state of decay as she might have led you to believe," Jake says in a commanding voice, emitting his own imposing presence in the room. Even the ill-intent–laden glare given by the masked woman dims down, and for a brief second, the _Jäger_ could have sworn that he saw just the briefest flicker of fear in her eyes.

Then the doors to the elevator open up once more, but Jake doesn't look back. He takes a step forward. "And trust me, I think I know just who you are underneath that mask," He says in a voice only his opponent can hear. Jake knows that this is true because her posture stiffens for a second as she grabs something from her belt. Jake's eyes narrow as he see the intruder place a cylindrical object at her feet. Immediately a thin cloud of smoke starts to rise upwards.

"Oh no you don't!"

Jake charges forward as the room is quickly filled with white smoke. He swings at the area he last saw the servant of Salem, even though it is unlikely the intruder would be stupid enough to put up a distraction an not make an escape. The lack of resistance that meets the blade of _Sōryū_ confirms this. Jake growls as the smoke quickly disappears, along with his opponent. Then a familiar and very much hated voice greets him from behind.

"Mr. Jake, I would like to have a word with you and Miss Rose in my office, please."

Jake turns around as his face composes itself from the furious snarl to an even gaze. Sure enough, that damn coffee-addict/headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin, is standing just in front of the elevator doors, along with a rather-unreadable gaze from the cane-wielding Huntsman's counterpart from Atlas, General James Ironwood. Ruby looks at the two veteran fighters and then in concern at Jake. He simply nods his head.

"Very well, as you wish, Professor Ozpin," Jake says, hiding the seething anger and even a slight amount of disgust/distaste from his voice. Inside his mind, however, he is free to voice his actual thought/reply.

' _FUCK!'_

 **And done! As I said, very short chapter. School is getting more intense right now, with two senior projects this semester, and a mandatory public Open Mic event. I still plan on posting a chapter or two next week, but don't be surprised if I am unable to do so. Anyways, one hundred followers, sixty-nine favorites, and sixty-four reviews. I have only one thing to say: You guys and girls are absolutely fucking amazing and a great bit thank you each and every single one of you blessed readers. Anyways, as always, leave a review/comment/OC creation down below, and have a wonderful week! Until next time! Next: The Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn**


	20. XIX The Order of the Shrikes of the Mour

**Jäger Chapter Nineteen: The Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn**

 **MorgothII: Surprise! Wrote this entire chapter in about an hour or two today! Didn't expect to be posting a third chapter a day after the last one, but here it is! Read and enjoy please!**

A nervous Ruby Rose tries (and fails) to do her best to stand still as three of the most powerful Hunters and Huntress alive look at her and her unofficial partner. While her body isn't moving, her silvery-colored eyes roam all over the room that is the office of Professor Ozpin. Her hands fidget with one another. She shoots the look of concern to the taller boy standing next to her.

If Ruby is visibly nervous, then Jake Torchwick is a slab of granite, revealing nothing of his thoughts or emotions. His hands are clasped against the small of his back, thought it is on his free will, not because of handcuffs. Though to the black-and-red haired fifteen-year-old girl, General Ironwood did seem to be tempted briefly with the idea. Jake's _katana_ , _Sōryū_ ,now sheathed again, still remains attached to his belt at his side.

Aside from briefly asking if she was ok, the object of affection for the girl scythe-wielder had said nothing to her. Ozpin had allowed the young girl to head towards her dorm room to change into her usual outfit, probably having sensed the discomfort Ruby was feeling, or at least, the half being caused by her blasted heels. Then she ended up being a tad but embarrassed when 'someone' had accidently hit all the buttons of the elevator for the floors between the ground and the top floor containing Ozpin's office. Now she stepped forward as Ozpin addresses her.

"It's alright," Ozpin says in the even tone that Ruby knows aggravates the _Jäger_. Ruby feels a little less embarrassed by his reassurances. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess…" Ruby says, briefly looking down at her combat boots before continuing. "I'd feel better if my bad guy catching record wasn't zero for three." All three of the adults give her a long stare at her poorly-done attempt at humor. Jake still gives her nothing, which makes the scythe-wielder unsure if that is a good or bad sign.

"Okay so that's the tone we're going for…Got it," She says as she rubs the back of her head, uncomfortable yet again. As Ruby lowers her arm, General Ironwood steps closer to her as he speaks.

"Ruby, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about," He says as he places a hand gently on her shoulder. His words cheer the youngest team leader attending Beacon slightly as he continues to speak. "You recognized a threat, you took action, and you did the very best you could."

Now feeling better, Ruby looks up as she replies. "Thank you, sir." Then her attention turns to Ozpin as the man who had let her attend her dream school two entire school years early takes over speaking.

"Now, the general here," the coffee-addict begins, gesturing at the Atlas headmaster, "has already informed us of the events that had occurred earlier tonight at the CCTV tower. But now that you're in more comfortable clothing, we were wondering if you have anything to add? The same goes to you, Mr. Jake."

"Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar to either of you at all?" Glynda asks, crossing her arms against her chest. Ruby looks away as she answers, shaking her head slowly and sadly.

"I…I don't know. She was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass. I don't think it was her semblance though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked," She says, reflecting back on what she was able to note about the woman she and Jake had fought.

The three Hunters exchange a glance before returning their attention to the two students. Glynda speaks up once more.

"Save for the glass…that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby," she says. Then Ironwood speaks up.

"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age old technique. It couldn't have been anyone," He says before Ruby cuts in.

"Wait, you think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" She asks, not noticing the slight shift in the nearby Jake's body language. Ozpin's face gains a thoughtful expression for a second before replying to the fifteen-year-old girl's question.

"It's possible. But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together," He finishes. Then Ruby speaks up, and what she says causes a bit more obvious reaction to her unofficial partner, who has still been dead silent.

"Actually, I think I remember her saying something about a hideout or something. In the southeast, just outside the kingdom," She informs the four other humans. Ozpin gives a slight grin at this new information.

"Interesting," He says. Meanwhile Glynda gives a quizzical look at the silver-eyed teen.

"I thought you said the intruder never-"the second-in-command of Beacon Academy begins before Ozpin interrupts her.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Ruby. Why don't you go down and get some rest? It has been a long night, and I'm sure your teammates are starting to get worried about where you went," he says, subtly dismissing the leader of Team RWBY. But then Ironwood interrupts his Vale counterpart.

"Do you know anything about why there is a member of the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn standing right next to you?" Jake's gaze hardens, disguising his shock at this reveal. Meanwhile, a look of absolute confusion overtakes Ruby's face.

"The Order of the what-now?" She asks, having never heard the name before. But even as she gave her answer, her mind remembers that Jake had said something about some sort of order. Maybe the two are related?

"Never mind, Mr. Jake can fill you in about this if he desires to do so in the morning. You can go," Ozpin says. A confused Ruby looks worriedly at Jake before he nods his head at her, silently signaling that it's ok. Only slightly reassured, Ruby then enters the elevator and leaves the office, leaving the room silent as a thick tension forms between the _Jäger_ and the three veteran fighters of Grimm.

After a few moments goes by, Jake finally speaks. His voice is gruff, low, and guarded. "I know for a damn fact that none of you are members, and very few outsiders know of our existence, even among the so-called mythical legends. So how the hell do you know?"

A furious Goodwitch opens her mouth in preparation of delivering a harsh tongue lashing for his tone, but Ozpin merely holds up a hand, silencing the blonde woman once more. "I was friends with your mentor. I knew that he had died a while back, for which I must say that the news greatly saddened me, and that he had been training a successor to the leadership of your Order. I just never knew it would be you. I guess he never told you that two hundred and fifty years ago, the then-current leader and her closest advisors had approached the also then-current headmasters of the four main Huntsmen Academies. The Order had been facing a possible second schism, and the leader had decided that if this was the end, that she wouldn't just leave the world in the dark. She told them about the four relics hidden beneath their schools, and the Four Maidens. She tasked them with protecting both of them, while also maintaining silence about what she had just revealed to them. They were allowed to have a few, select compatriots to be trusted with this knowledge and assist the four Hunters and Huntresses with their new task."

Jake nods his head. "That explains why the Maidens hadn't made contact with me, at least, until very recently. If this is the case, then you lot also know about what happened to Amber shortly before disappearing? We found her staff and signs of a battle, but no body, and not even a single hint of a new Fall Maiden," Jake says, his tone turning the spoken question into a demand.

James Ironwood gives Ozpin a warning glance, but the grey-haired Hunter ignores it as he answers.

"She's in a comma and on life support. As to her location, she is safe in the vault beneath this tower."

Jake says nothing for a few minutes, his face slowly shifting between surprise and shock, and understanding. Then his features settle on raw fury as his voice breaks the silence.

"Let me get this straight. You are hiding Amber, the Fall Maiden, underneath this tower?! My god, what arrogance you carry!" While it is even at first, Jake's tone becomes louder and more aggressive towards the end of the sentence. A red-faced Professor Goodwitch starts to speak up once again with the intent of delivering a reprimand.

"That's-"

"With all due respect, Professor Goodwitch, as of right now, I am not a student of Beacon. I stopped being that when we sent Ruby to wait down below. Right now I am the Grand Marshal of my order. And as Ozpin here apparently knows about my group, he should be able to verify the fact that we are not one to be treated lightly," Jake finishes, a look of resolve stronger than steel present in his gaze.

"Mr. Jake is correct. So, what are your intentions now?"

Jake lets out a long sigh before answering.

"We both know Salem is making another move soon. Now that I know there might be something towards Mountain Glenn, I will investigate that area. Seeing as how we will be, though by force if you ask me, to work together and combine our forces against a shared enemy, I will report anything. In return, you will allow me to summon one of my squads for the duration of the year, with the option of summoning more reinforcements should the need arise. You will also keep me in the loop, and will not treat me as a subordinate. Am I clear?" Jake says, his (in)famous steely resolve plainly evident.

For once in all their (at least for the _Jäger_ ) infuriating conversations, Jake is the one with the proverbial higher ground. Ozpin recognizes this, for he lets out his own long sigh before nodding his head.

"Very well, Grand Marshal. However, Team RWBY, along with one of my teachers, will be accompanying you. Knowing their recent habit of sneaking out whenever Roman Torchwick and/or the White Fang might be involved. They won't know your real reason, but I see that it would be best for everyone. In addition, I trust that the people you have in mind to arrive will keep themselves a low profile?" Jake scoffs at this last part.

"Stealth outside of fighting is one of my order's main tenets. And your 'suggestion' does make sense, seeing as I would pose as being ordered to provide back-up for a dangerous area. Now, I think that we are done for now. I shall take my leave," Jake says, once again stating a fact that he will do so regardless of if the three adults were fine with it or not. Thankfully, a tired Ozpin nods his head.

"Very well, you may go as well."

Without a second glance or reply, Jake enters the elevator and leaves for his own dorm room. The halls of Beacon are empty of all other humans and Faunus, such late is the hour. Even so, Jake activates his semblance, desiring the protective sense of stealth it gives him. His mind slowly shifts from the conversation he had just left to what had happened between him and his best friend at the dance. They had kissed on the lips. On the lips, and while it wasn't drawn-out or overtly passionate/carnal, it hadn't been a short one.

In other words, this couldn't be ignored, and the fact that the _Jäger_ himself isn't sure what he wants this to become. Before he realizes it, he stands before the door to his room, and more importantly, his bed. He throws a quick glance at the entrance to Team RWBY's living quarters. For a moment, the wielder of _Sōryū_ ponders if he should see if Ruby is up. Instead, Jake opts to go to bed and deal with it in the morning.

' _It's kinda fitting in a way if you think about it,'_ His tired mind muses. _'Dealing with it at the start of a new day for what the new future between the two of us shall be.'_

Then he closes the door and quickly switches into his simple sleepwear. He gripping his sheathed _katana_ , Jake Torchwick crawls underneath the clean, soft sheets of his bed. He closes his eyes despite knowing that tonight's sleep would be anything but peaceful. After a while, he slips into a nightmare-filled sleep.

 **And done! Three chapters in three days, I am freaking out right now! To make up for the past two shorter chapters, this one is more of the typical length I have been striving to have. As always, big shout-out of thanks to you awesome readers who take the time to read this story! Also, to the guest reviewer known as The Critic, the demand for a solo team was already made in the preceding chapter as part of his terms for attending Beacon Academy instead of prison. Expect more chapters either later this week or like my minimum of one chapter a week next week, because I have no idea if this is it for the week or not. Have a wonderful day and until the next update! Next chapter: Burning a Bridge or Exploring New Grounds?**


	21. XX Burning a Bridge or Exploring

**Jäger Chapter Twenty: Burning a Bridge or Exploring New Grounds?**

 **MorgothII: Wow, just wow…Four for four now, huh? I am semi-speechless right now. Maybe there will be a new chapter tomorrow, but at this rate it's about a fifty-fifty chance. Now, enjoy this new chapter and the long-promised CrossFire pairing made 100% official!**

A rather-tired Jake Torchwick opens his eyes as his alarm goes off. Despite Ozpin having made a late-night announcement just before their meeting that although it was had been a Sunday night during the dance, and so tomorrow classes would start in the early afternoon, the one known by the media as the _Jäger_ always preferred, even for days that the preceding night hadn't gain much peaceful rest like this day, to wake up early every day. Though, the late start for the day was only for second-year through fourth-year student teams. Though the exact hour can change, typically it is around 6 or 7:00. Today however, he had been slightly lenient, allowing a (for him at least) longer amount of time in the form of a half hour, thus meaning that it was just a little bit past 7:30. He puts _Sōryū_ down on his nearby nightstand as Jake gets out of bed. With a mighty yawn, the leader of the secret warrior society known as the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn stretches his body, waiting for his mind to become fully awake.

Once that is done, two separate thoughts pop into Jake's mind. The first is almost purely of a business matter. Today all first-year students such as Teams RWBY, JNPR, and JÄGER would be given the option to pick their first field assignments. The _Jäger_ would be 'assigned' the assignment of a search-and-destroy at Mountain Glenn, his primary suspected area of the White Fang hideout Ruby had mentioned last night that he would be scouting for. And maybe, just maybe, he will find his twin sister Neo and save her. He had finished the small and portable signal jammer only hours before the dance and the events that had occurred during the event last night.

Which is exactly what the second, more personal, line of thought in the _Jäger_ 's mind is related to. Jake and his best friend, Ruby Rose, had kissed each other on the lips. It wasn't that Jake hadn't enjoyed it, far from it. The issue was that he had no idea what it was that the younger female team leader desired. No matter what, however, this issue will be settled today, and before all the first-year teams were summoned for the briefing. With that thought in mind, as well as just in case her older sister, the blonde buxom brawler Yang Xiao Long, decided to attack Jake immediately, he puts on his colorful blue composite armor with yellow highlights, afterwards placing his weapons, ammunition belts, signal jammer, helmet, and protective throat-guard/face mask on his bed. Once completed, he takes a deep breath as he exits his room. As he walks over to the door to the living quarters for Team RWBY, the _Jäger_ can already the four voices that belong to the four female members of said team. Despite his best efforts, Jake's face reveals the anxiety he is feeling about the inevitable conversation between the two team leaders.

"Time to face the music," He quietly murmurs to himself as he prepares to knock on the door…which suddenly swings open to reveal an equally nervous-looking Ruby Rose. Both are startled by the unexpected appearance of the other.

"Oh, um, hey Ruby."

"H-hey Jake," She replies, stuttering slightly as a slight tinge of red slowly graces her pale white cheeks. _'It's kinda cute when she does this,'_ Jake's mind idly muses before he realizes he is letting himself be distracted. He mentally slaps his own face to focus on the smaller, silver-eyed girl.

"U-um, look about last night. I didn't-" Ruby starts to say before being stopped when her now-apparent crush gently raises a hand to stop her. As he lowers it, he gives her a gentle stare, his brown eyes lacking any negative emotion, or at least, so far as the scythe-wielding, cookie-loving and milk-drinking speed demon is able to make out.

"Actually, that is what I wanted to talk about."

"Oh," Ruby replies, looking down sadly at her boots, also having changed into her outfit. She turns around and looks at her three older teammates, who are now anxiously watching the two. "Um, guys, Jake and I are going to be just outside in the hallway. We need this to be just between the two of us for now. Ok?" She asks, her tone firm and telling that she would not accept 'no' for an answer. After sharing glances at one another, her older sister, the Dust heiress, and the cat Faunus former member of the White Fang all give Ruby a reluctant nod. She gives them a weak smile before closing the door, leaving only her and Jake to talk. The next minute or so is filled with an extremely awkward and uncomfortable silence. Finally, looking up at her (hopefully still) friend, the black-and-red haired girl breaks the silence, clearly worried as she starts the conversation about the kiss.

"Look, I should have asked you if you were comfortable with going out like someone like me, especially before kissing you."

"Ruby-"

"I mean, look at me, I'm just an awkward girl with a giant scythe and an obsession of fighting and killing Grimm and weapons!"

"Ruby-"

"We could just forget we kissed and still be friends. I mean, I'm very good, great, with just being friends. But if you hate me and never want to talk to me again or having anything to do with me, I under-"

"Ruby Rose!" Jake says, louder than normal. While he didn't like having to do so, the _Jäger_ could clearly see that the more his friend/admirer talked, or rather, ranted/rambled on and bringing her to the edge of tears. At once the fifteen-year-old fighter stops talking, her body shaking slightly in anxiety but not daring to utter another word, wanting to respect her fellow student's request. Jake takes a moment to finish composing his thoughts before he speaks. This time, his tone is much lower and gentler. Something that he uses only rarely, and the only person used to it being the very same girl he is now addressing.

"Ok, first of all, stop selling yourself short and being harsh on your appearances. Frankly between you and me, you look beautiful, but that isn't what I want to say. I would like for you to listen to what I have to say, and to not talk until I finish. Can you do that please, Ruby?" Almost immediately Ruby vigorously shakes her head up and down, cheeks blushing slightly brighter from the compliment the _Jäger_ had casually given her. After all, when compared to her much sexier older half-sister, Ruby hadn't received even a quarter of the lustful desires and adoring compliments Yang had (and still is) received. Jake gives her a thankful nod, taking a breath before resuming his speaking.

"Thanks Ruby. Now, you didn't force me to go to the dance, either as a friend or a date. While I did say yes, I'm sure you would have understood if I had changed my mind. I didn't do so. I went with you on my own free will. Secondly, last night's kiss wasn't one-sided. I think we both kissed each other at the same time. So I am just as much to blame as you. Now, I shouldn't have given you the semi-cold shoulder that I did afterwards. I was just caught off-guard and unsure of what to do." Jake pauses, a small wry smile appearing on his lips as the taller boy looks at his unofficial partner.

"It's almost ironic how a veteran killer doesn't know how to deal with a simple kiss or its implications. Regardless, we can't just ignore this. I'm willing, however to give this a try. But before I ask you that question, I have two important questions that you must answer before I do so. First, are you willing to date someone who has at least several large secrets? Last night showed that I have some, though I will eventually reveal at least some." Ruby nods her head solemnly. Jake nods his head to himself before speaking once more.

"Very well, second and final question: Are you willing to date someone who is two years older than you, a known killer, and one who is likely to have to do so many more times in the future?"

Again Ruby nods her head once, not even hesitating.

"Then I guess I would like to give this a chance," Jake finally says, feeling a bit unsure of himself once more. The feeling is quickly erased upon seeing the large smile appearing on Ruby, his brand-new (and first) girlfriend, which quickly becomes infectious as the _Jäger_ feels his own mouth forming a similar expression as they lean closer. But before they can kiss, the door to Team RWBY's dorm swings open. A grinning Yang snickers slightly at the now-still teens.

"It's about damn time for you two! Hey, Ruby, I didn't get the chance to tell you, but dad sent us a package. Don't know what it is, but why don't we open it together?" She suggests while ignoring the harsh glare Jake throws at her. Immediately a blushing and sheepish-looking Ruby quickly recovers with yet another one of her smiles.

"Ooh! Something from home!" Ruby says in a high-pitched tone. Then she activates her speed semblance, despite the short distance between the two sisters, creating a brief, thin cloud of her equally-trademark roses. Jake's glare softens as he quietly laughs at the sight of Ruby clambering up onto Yang's back and trying to grab the long, cylindrical packing she is holding out away from her body.

"I'm going to do a final inspection of the signal jammer for Neo. I'll catch you gals later," He says before closing the door, quickly shooting his girlfriend a warm smile, which is swiftly returned by the kind, open-hearted girl. Then, with the door closed, Jake walks back to his room, closing the door with a smile still plastered on his face.

"Well, that went well. It went very well indeed."

Now, all the _Jäger_ has to do is to just to pass the next half hour or so until the announcement for first-year students to the amphitheater. Soon, it will be time for the hunter to do what he does best: Hunting his prey.

 **And done! Again, I didn't plan for so many chapters to be posted in so many days, but I guess it's just been a damn good week, huh? Anyways, again massive thanks to everyone who has been taking the time to read this story! Please feel free to leave a review, comment, or OC request form down below, and I will see you guys in the next chapter either tomorrow or next week! Have a wonderful day(s) until then! Next chapter: Mountain Glenn**


	22. XXI Mountain Glenn

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-One: Mountain Glenn**

 **MorgothII:…damn. Not much to say other than read and enjoy!**

The three seventeen-year-olds and their fifteen-year-old leader teen girls stare at the Huntsman that they had been given for their assignment, utterly stunned and slack-jawed. "Why, hello girls! Who's ready to fight for their lives?

"Professor Oobleck?" A greatly-surprised Weiss Schnee finally manages to say. The Beacon Academy teacher starts to pace back and forth in a line in front of the four girls belonging to Team RWBY as he speaks in his typical rapid-fire tone.

"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, girls. Seeing as you opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations. Rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I've packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our course, and readied the airship. And it's Doctor Oobleck," the green-haired man finally finishes, the last part aimed directly at the Schnee Dust Company Heiress. He pauses and leans forward, his face close to the Dust-wielder of RWBY.

"I didn't earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much." Then as quick as he leaned in he moves off, once more stunning the white-haired girl.

"Uhh…" Weiss trails off, speechless. She and Blake exchange confused and slightly worried glances at one another while Doctor Oobleck resumes talking.

"Come now, children! According to my schedule we are already three minutes behind…schedule." With that, the hyperactive teacher runs off to the airship he and Team RWBY would be using as transportation. He accelerates at such a speed that might have matched even Ruby's speed semblance. The young leader of said team tries to raise their spirits at this completely unexpected turn of events.

"Well, alright then. Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oobleck-" Ruby Rose pauses as she realizes what she had just said, and hangs her head down, staring at her combat boots. The three older girls also copy her action at the same time while the silver-eyed girl continues to speak. "Okay yeah, when you say it out loud it sounds worse."

"Save the world?!" A familiar energetic voice makes all four girls turn around to see their sister team JNPR. Nora continues to speak, energetic and bouncy as always. "You're going on world saving missions without us? I'm hurt! Sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not your fault, though…Ren," She finishes, looking at the silent ninja of her team and her closest friend in the world. Ren crosses his arms firmly across his chest as he turns his back to the orange-haired hammer-wielder, thrusting his chin upwards slightly.

Then Jaune speaks up. "Sounds exciting! Where are you going?"

"Oh, just outside the kingdom," Ruby says to her friends and fellow students.

"Hey, so are we!" Nora butts in. Pyrrha, Team JNPR's equivalent to Yang in terms of being the team's powerhouse, elaborates on the smaller girl's comment.

"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village," the redheaded Spartan says before Ren speaks, a rare occasion in and of itself for anyone outside his own team or Ruby's.

"We set out tomorrow." Then yet another voice joins the rapidly-expanding conversation.

"Then you can party with us tonight," Neptune says as he and Sun walk over. "We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges," the blue-haired 'cool guy' says, making the blonde leader of Team JNPR envious.

"We normally got to the city with you guys, which means stuff's always exploding and junk. So we thought this might be a better way of checking out the kingdom when it's…ya know…normal," Sun says in a much-less haughty manner.

"Well-" Ruby starts to say before being cut-off by a loud shout.

"FOUR MINUTES, LADIES! YOUR PARTNER, MR. JAKE, IS ALREADY HERE!"

Having been wincing at first from hearing Professor Oobleck shouting, Ruby's silvery eyes widen and brighten as the name their history teacher had just thrown out is registered. In a blink of an eye and a speed semblance activation that involves leaving behind a brief curtain of rose petals. All nine of the 17-year old teens left behind exchange glances before Sun breaks the silence.

"So, Ruby and Jake are finally together?"

"Yep," Blake says simply. Jaune nods his head.

"Well, it's about time, right guys? I mean, it was almost painful to see how Jake wasn't picking up those signals Ruby was giving him," He says. His friends don't immediately deliver any verbal responses. Instead, they (especially Pyrrha) opt to instead give the blonde swordsman deadpan stares. A now-confused Jaune looks around at his friends.

"Um, what are you guys looking at?" Pyrrha's obvious crush asks. The looks continue to drag on for a few more seconds before Neptune lets out a slight sigh.

"Nothing, Jaune. Nothing at all."

Back at the airship, Jake Torchwick, also known by most as the _Jäger_ , is caught off-guard when a shorter body that had been moving at a rapid pace slams into him. While he isn't knocked off his feet, he does stumble back a few steps as his girlfriend continues to grip his body in a tight hug. "Ooh! Jake, I'm so glad to see you, I didn't see you with the others and so I was worried that I wouldn't get to say good-bye to you before we left but here you are and so I am super happy to see you right now!" The bouncing ball of energy known as Ruby Rose says rapidly. Jake barely manages to make out what she is saying. He releases a brief laugh.

"Good to see you too, Rubes," He finally says as the leader of Team RWBY (somewhat reluctantly) lets go and takes a few steps back. The red-and-black haired girl looks up at her first-ever boyfriend. While still in his armor from when he had been wearing it this morning, Ruby notices his _katana_ , _Sōryū_ , and his sword bayonet in their sheathes and are attached to the primary ammunition belt for his bullets around his waist. Slung across the _Jäger_ 's back is his self-built, single-shot black powder rifle. Instead of around his wrists like the sole member of Team JÄGER typically does, the two smaller ammo bandoliers are strapped to his lower legs, just above his ankles. His face mask/throat guard combination gear is already in place around his mouth, covering everything below Jake's brown eyes, though as she is both close and short enough, Ruby is able to somewhat see his mouth move through the small slit/gap for his mouth. His helmet is absent, along with his now-heavily tattered and holed brown cloak, though the scythe-wielder does notice the faint outline of the dragon-bearing design head piece further inside the airship. She does notice a third object attached to Jake's belt: the signal jammer he had been working on for helping him out when he tries to rescue his twin sister, Neopolitan.

"Before you ask why I am here now and not earlier after our conversation is because I wanted to surprise you. Since Ozpin figured you would try to sneak out and make for the southeast area you mentioned last night unless you got official permission to do so with a veteran Huntsman, and of course my habit of being involved with your adventures with my father and the White Fang, he had me also placed on the mission as extra back-up," Jake explains, using the cover story he had decided to use after the discussion between the headmaster and himself. Ruby nods excitedly, eyes sparkling with joy as the rest of Team RWBY board the airship.

"Well, consider me extremely pleasantly surprise."

As the airship takes off, Jake notices the bag Ruby is carrying. Apparently the green-haired history teacher hasn't noticed it…yet. Jake leans closer, speaking in a whisper loud enough for only Ruby to hear as the group begin their trip.

"What's in the bag?"

"Oh, nothing! Just some extra supplies I brought just in case," Ruby says to her taller boyfriend, a bit too quickly in Jake's opinion to be the truth. But to humor his lover, he pretends to accept the hasty explanation.

For the first part of the trip, the group is silent. Then Yang decides to start a conversation, having grown bored at the overall inactivity experienced thus far.

"I guess I just never saw you as much of a fighter," Yang says as their transport continues to fly amongst the clouds. Standing next to the Ice Queen of Beacon Academy, Doctor Oobleck replies in a causal tone.

"I admit, I fancy myself more as a…intellectual. But I can assure you, as a Huntsman I've had my fair share of tussles." A confused look appears on Ruby's face as she speaks up.

"Like the mushroom?" She asks, using her left hand to hold onto the overhead safety grips while her right hand scratches her head. To her right, Blake leans her head closer as she answers her leader's question in her typical level and sometimes even quiet tone.

"Those are truffles," The cat Faunus corrects the short-haired girl.

"Like the sprout?"

This time it is Yang, standing between the open side-door and her younger sister, who answers.

"Those are Brussels," the buxom blonde says. Jake raises an eyebrow as he gives her a playful look, a small smile showing beneath his mask. Then Oobleck jumps back in.

"Besides! Given my expertise in the field of history, as well as my dabbling in the archeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it fit to assign me to this particular…assignment!"

"What does history have to do with this?" Weiss, now curious, asks as she looks at the green-haired man.

"Why, what a preposterous question you silly girl. Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys if I were to wager," He says. Jake gives one of the two male teachers originally responsible for capturing him a flat stare. _'What the hell does that mean?'_ the _Jäger_ wonders silently.

"And that means…?"

"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves. But, it is also the location of one of the kingdom's greatest failures."

"Mountain Glenn," Ruby and Jake say at the same time in unison. Yang jumps in as her younger sister and her boyfriend exchange a brief snort of laughter.

"That's right! It was an expansion of Vale…" she begins to say. Then she pauses for a moment. When the brawler resumes speaking, her voice has a somber tone to it. "In the end it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct! And now it stands, abandoned, as a dark remainder." Blake's amber eyes narrow slightly as she speaks up at the end of Oobleck's response.

"And a likely place for a hideout," the black-haired girl says. Oobleck adjusts his glasses before replying.

"Precisely."

At that moment, the five teen students and their teacher arrive over the ruins of Mountain Glenn. The airship begins its descent upon finding a large enough clearing to drop off its passengers. Hovering above the ground, the group jumps onto the ground, weapons at the ready. Jake steadies his rifle, having already loaded one of his special and effective tungsten-cored Anti-Grimm rounds into the breech of his gun.

"Ladies, and gentleman, you may still be students, but as of this moment your first mission as Huntresses, and Huntsman, has begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" Oobleck says. While he did include Jake in his instructions, it was merely as a way of further disguising Jake's true purpose in this mission, and his own overall authority. Finally he notices the bag strapped to Ruby's back.

"Ruby!" He says suddenly. Ruby jumps up slightly and drops Crescent Rose, currently in its scythe-mode, before looking at Oobleck.

"I thought I told you to leave all your bags back at school." Ruby quickly replies, trying to find a way out of this situation that wouldn't end badly for her.

"But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't," the silver-eyed girl says, her reasoning being at least a bit sound, even if it was very thin.

"She's not wrong," her teacher mutters aloud to himself, while Jake resists the urge to put a palm up to his face. "Very well, Ruby, leave your bag here. We can pick it up upon our return." Instead of simply accepting the instruction, however, Jake's girlfriend starts to stutter as she tries to come up with a reasonable counter-suggestion.

"But, I…uh…" Ruby tires to say before Doctor Oobleck takes a few steps closer.

"Young lady! What in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with-" the coffee-drinker starts to say, a thought shared by a now-curious Jake, when something appears to move inside the object in question. A dog's head. Everyone stares at her, as Ruby whispers to the dog, which apparently is her pet.

"Get back in the bag…" She whispers, as if the corgi doing so would change the fact that everyone has seen said animal. Instead of doing so, the dog lets out a simple bark.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban-jungle, teaming with death and hostility, and you brought…a dog?!" Oobleck finally says/asks her. Jake shakes his helmeted head in amazement at Ruby's actions. Inside his mind, Jake feels that after all the time the two had spent together by now, he wouldn't be able to be surprised by anything his girlfriend might do. Apparently, he was clearly wrong.

"I…uh…" Ruby stutters once more. Then everyone else is surprised once more by what the history teacher from Beacon does next.

"Genius!" Oobleck shouts. All four of the seventeen-year-old teens look at the youngest member of the group quizzically. Jake's girlfriend, also unsure of what is going on, simply shrugs, equally confused. Then she is suddenly knocked onto the ground as the Huntsman teacher grabs the corgi from her bag, spinning around in a circle with the dog in his hands, speaking in his usual rapid-fire manner while doing so.

"Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!" Towards the end of this spiel, the dog, which Ruby quickly mouths the word 'Zwei', the name of the dog apparently, when he shoots her another questioning look, lets out another simple bark.

"I'm a genius," Ruby says, finally breaking the stunned spell of her three older teammates. Jake simply grins at her, shaking his head affectionately at his girlfriend. Her teammates all shake their heads in very mild exasperation at Ruby's antics. Then Blake speaks up.

"So, what are your orders, doctor?" Still holding Zwei in the air slightly above his head, Oobleck stops spinning and looks at the five students.

"Ah, yes. Straight to the chase. I like it," the doctor says as he lets go of Ruby's corgi, leaving it briefly floating in mid-air before dropping to the ground. Miraculously, the grey-and-white dog doesn't take any damage. "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hotspot for Grimm activity. Now there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being…Grimm," He addresses his group.

"Please don't let that last sentence had been a pun. Bad enough that Yang does it, last thing I need to have right now is a second pun-maker," Jake mutters to Ruby. She raises a hand to stifle a brief giggle. Then the teenagers look around, trying to figure out whether it is a pun or something else.

"Uh…what?" Ruby finally asks.

"Grimm. A creature of Grimm, approximately one hundred yards from us, at this very moment," Oobleck elaborates. All five students whirl around.

"What?!" Blake almost shouts, and true to his word, a lone Beowolf appears from around a corner by one of the nearby abandoned buildings. Jake and Team RWBY ready their weapons when their mission leader gives an unexpected command.

"Stop!" At this, everyone but the _Jäger_ turn their heads towards the thermos-carrying teacher, incredulous looks on their faces.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm would congregate in this particular area. The most likely of which would be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness…hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent," Oobleck finishes his explanation. Looks of understanding begin to appear on the faces of Team RWBY as their young leader speaks up.

"So…what now?" Ruby asks simply.

"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." Jake grunts in approval, his iron sights at the end of his gun's barrel still line up with one of the two glowing red eyes of the mentioned foe.

"In other words, we hunt."

"How long do we wait?" Yang asks.

"It's uncertain. Hours. Days. Weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months. And there's the whole pack," Oobleck finishes. Once again, the green-haired history teacher is correct, for more of the wolf-like demons appear.

"What?" Weiss asks in surprise. Jake's finger returns to its original position of gently resting on the trigger as Doctor Oobleck continues speaking.

"And now they've seen us."

"WHAT?!" Weiss says once again, louder this time. If not for the situation they were about to be in, the green-haired Huntsman's response would be hilarious to everyone present, aside form the Schnee Dust Company heiress, of course.

"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!"

"I take it tracking is out of the question?" Ruby tentatively asks, also ready for a fight once again while their teacher states the obvious.

"An accurate assumption, yes."

"What's the plan, then?" Yang asks, just before the large Beowolf pack charges forward.

"Simple: attack and kill them all," Jake mutters as he readies his gun. Inside he is excited to be in a fight once more, and better yet, he is fully prepared. This week is going to be fun, if nothing else. Though, hopefully he will not return to Beacon empty-handed, whether it be physical or not

 **And done! Five chapters in five days, holy shit. I'll try to keep up this pace, but I'm not making any absolute promises other than I will have at least one chapter posted next week for sure! Anyways, thanks again for reading yet another chapter, each and every single one of you are amazing, feel free to leave a comment/like/review/OC submission down below! Have a great rest of the week and until next time! Next Chapter: Lost**


	23. IMPORTANT NOTE ignore after Chap 22 post

Hey guys and gals, I have an announcement I wish to make. I know that I have been publishing at least one chapter a week, with last week having a chapter a day from Monday to Friday, and that I promised yet another chapter this week. But I have been having some major stress in my life, an a large number of projects, half of which are my senior projects (I get not just one, but two! Yay me!) that are due soon, plus some personal shit that I'm not going to talk about right now, other than that I'm hoping that one thing I have today in the afternoon with a classmate I enjoy talking to goes well. But let's move on, shall we?

I'm neither giving up on this story, not after all this fucking work and dedication, nor putting it on hiatus. However, I will be unable to promise a steady updating schedule for April and possibly even half/most of May. I will do my best to publish new chapters as soon and often as I can, but I need to do so at a relaxed pace. You guys have no idea how hard it was to make and post five chapters, each in a single day.

I have one other thing I wish to ask. I have posted a poll for readers with accounts on my profile page, and so that should be showing up very soon. Guest readers or people lacking an account for now can leave their thoughts in the review section after reading the poll.

Again, sorry for the announcement, but I feel it is for the best choice for all of us, including me. I am working on chapter twenty-two, and should be posting it within the next two weeks, with a flexible goal of by Friday/Saturday. Until next time!


	24. XXII Lost

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Two: Lost**

 **MorgothII: Sorry for both the delay and the extremely short chapter, but things have been getting…complicated in my life. I'll be graduating in about six weeks or so, one of my senior projects is due Thursday, and on Friday I am taking my driver's test. Wish me luck! Anyways, the next two chapters should be longer, however. One last thing, poll results are in. I will be continuing this story all the way through volume three, though I** _ **might**_ **separate it after that, as I would have a special surprise possibility, which I will discuss at a later date. Enjoy!**

A loud _bang_ fills the silent streets of the ruins of the settlement once known as Mountain Glenn. A split-second later, the center of the white mask covering the face of the Beowolf targeted by the _Jäger_ explodes into a bloody pulp as the tungsten-cored round pierces the thick, bone-like structure with contemptible ease. Also known by a very few by his real name, Jake Torchwick, the seventeen-year-old fighter deftly operates the unique falling block action of his self-designed and built single-shot rifle. The instant Jake has finished doing so and has the iron sights that are mounted just above the muzzle lined up on a second member of the attacking pack of wolf-like Grimm, he fires again. This time, the bullet strikes the area where the heart would be. The shadowy demon continues to move forward a few yards before its paws stumble. The slain Grimm falls onto its side as its body moves a few more feet along the crumbling pavement, its body already starting to evaporate into smoke.

Beside him, a second loud gunshot goes off as a high-velocity, dust-powered sniper bullet slams into a third member of the demonic pack. This time, the shooter was none other than Jake's girlfriend and fellow Beacon Academy team leader, Ruby Rose. A tiny, sly grin appears beneath the fearsome mask he wears. "You're aim is off," Jake gently teases the silver-eyed scythe-wielding teen girl. With a loud whirl of mechanical gears, Ruby's weapon, Crescent Rose, shifts from sniper mode to its longer scythe mode as she readies herself to activate her distinctive speed semblance.

"You're just jealous of my baby," She returns with an equally-playful taunt. Before her boyfriend can deliver his own counter-tease, the red-and-black haired girl pulls the trigger to her gun, launching herself forward into the somewhat reduced pack of Beowolves. Jake shrugs and swiftly shoulders his own-beloved rifle, watching as the four girls of Team RWBY swiftly decimate the creatures of Grimm.

Once that is done, Doctor Oobleck begins to assign the girls to various tasks, also talking to them on a one-on-one business about why they wanted to become Huntresses. Jake, of course, was able to explore the remnants of the desolate ruins of Mountain Glenn.

The sun slowly descends to its evening rest, and soon the shattered remains of the moon takes over. A slightly frustrated Jake is about to call it quits for the night when he pauses. In the darkness of the streets, Jake activates his stealth semblance, virtually masking the very presence of the _Jäger_ from all others. A few tense seconds pass by before Jake once more sees movement up ahead. His eyes narrow at the white uniforms and Grimm-like masks.

The _Jäger_ sees a member of the White Fang, who is soon joined by several others as they move farther down the street and out of Jake's sights. _'Better report this to the others,'_ the leader of the secretive group known as the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn decides as he slowly begins to move back to where Doctor Oobleck had briefly informed him about the location of tonight's campsite.

He stops when he hears Ruby's pet corgi, Zwei, let out a series of barks. With a slight scowl, Jake races towards the sound, wishing to stop whatever it was that was the source behind his barking before their presence is revealed.

"JAKE!"

A familiar voice shouts, almost causing the mentioned teen to shout in exasperation. "Oh, sure, let's just let every-fucking-body know that we are here!" Jake decides to instead say as a way of venting. He looks at the speaker, Yang, and sees the buxom blonde sister of Ruby racing towards him, with everyone else behind her.

Everyone that is, except for Ruby Rose.

"Where's Ruby?" Jake says, despising the fact about having to ask so obvious a question. He joins the rest of his group as they continue to follow the pet corgi. The lilac-eyed girl quickly answers.

"We don't know. Last time I saw her was when she was back at the camp with us but she must have left with Zwei for some reason. Zwei came back and so he must be leading us to…oh no," Yang never finishes her sentence, as everyone skids to a halt upon seeing the object said corgi is standing beside. Ruby's weapon, folded up in its carrying mode, and in front of the weapon, a giant, gaping hole in the road.

"Oh, fuck! There's White Fang here. I saw the bastards just a few minutes ago. Shit, we got to get down there!" Jake says, un-slinging his rifle before handing it over to a startled Yang, who quickly (and a slight bit awkwardly) slings the _Jäger_ 's beloved firearm over her own shoulder.

"Mister Jake, what on Remnant do you think you are doing? Now is not the time to be charging in there, and why are you giving Miss Xiao Long your rifle?" Oobleck demands/asks.

"Ruby is down there, without backup or even Crescent Rose, with god knows how many White Fang terrorists and possibly other criminals. At best, she has been captured. At worst….well, you get the idea. You all can take your time to plan, but I am going down there. This is no longer a scouting-type mission. It's a rescue mission. I'm going down there, rescuing Ruby, and then I will try to stop whatever the hell the White Fang is planning."

Before the remaining members of Team RWBY or their green-haired Huntsman professor can intervene, Jake leaps off of the edge of the road as he draws both his _katana_ , _Sōryū_ , as well as his sword bayonet. Then the blue-armored fighter disappears from view as he rapidly descends after his girlfriend. Not one to leave her younger sister to the chance of being harmed, Yang looks at Oobleck.

"Well, I couldn't put it any better myself. Ladies, let's move out!"

 **And done! Sorry for the rather shitty quality of this chapter, but I just wanted to get this over with. The next chapter, and the one following it, should be much,** _ **much**_ **better! As always, thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review, thought, comment, or OC submission down below, and until next time! Next chapter: Underground Part One**


	25. XXIII Underground, Part One

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Three: Underground Part One**

 **Sorry for the long wait! Shit got bad a while back but a lot of good has happened over the past three weeks, more below, and enjoy!**

"So what do you think the boss is going to do to that little girl Perry found?"

"Not sure. Whatever happens, I hope he doesn't kill her…yet." The first speaker, a deer Faunas member of the terrorist group known as the White Fang, looks at his partner, a lion Faunus. Their squad leader, a glasses-wearing man named Perry, had taken the rest of their squad as an escort for the unarmed, red hooded-cape girl with silver eyes and black hair with red ends to headquarters for the White Fang operators stationed within the massive caverns underneath the ruined city of Mountain Glenn. Both of the male terrorists carry typical dust-powered assault rifles, and had been left behind to temporarily guard area underneath the large hole their new captive must have fallen through. With their allotted time now completed, they begin to walk back towards the camp a few stories below, near the rail yard.

"Why?" He asks, despite knowing what the answer he will receive will be, a sly smile showing through the unguarded area for the mouth of his Grimm-like mask. The lion Faunus lets out a cruel laugh.

"Oh, you know why! And don't you fucking deny it, but you are too!" The two had been convicted as rapists despite pleading their innocence…in spite of the lack of such. A White Fang raid on the prison bus, filled with plenty of bitter or aggressive Faunus convicted of major felonies being transported to death row, had seen the duo emerge with the terrorist, pro-Faunus group.

A soft thud from behind them causes the lion and deer Faunus to pause and turn around, weapons half-raised. Neither of them made any movement or noise for a few seconds. Their eyes try to see what the source of the noise, which appears to have been at the spot where the girl the duo had been talking about was found and captured, but they see nothing. Finally the lion Faunus grunts.

"Must have been just some more rubble from above, nothing else. So, you hoping that he doesn't kill the girl as much as I do?"

"Well, of course! You know I also like my girls to be young, and that one sure has a sweet-looking body! Am I right?" The first White Fang terrorist asks his companion while emitting a low chuckle. Said sound stops upon the realization that his companion is neither laughing nor responding. His lion compatriot is also no longer right beside him. He turns around, and the male deer Faunus instantly wishes he hadn't.

Two feet away, his fellow rapist/terrorist arms hang limply at his sides, one hand still clutching his now-pointless weapon in a tight, unrelenting death grip. Emerging from his now-bloodied mouth is a silvery shaft of metal. The White Fang member's numbed brain quickly realizes that whatever had pierced the back of his friend's head all the way through the mouth was a sword. "Oh shit," He whimpers, trying to ensure that his bladders don't succumb to the sudden urge to relive themselves. A part of his brain vainly attempts to remind him to either raise the alarm, or at least fire his fucking gun.

The Faunus barely sees the second, smaller metal blade as an arm clad in what appears to be blue-colored armor lunges out. The man with mini-antlers feels a brief sensation against the skin of his throat, quickly followed by what seems to be the trickling of a warm liquid. As a coppery smell assaults the terrorist's nose, he presses a trembling hand to his throat as he suddenly feels as if he is unable to breath. When his hand is removed from the front of his neck and held before his eyes, all that the White Fang member is able to do is stare dumbly at the crimson-colored substance soaking the glove.

The now-dying Faunus falls to his knees, his bladder finally releasing as sheer terror floods his systems throughout his body. The body of his now-slain partner-in-crime is thrown forward roughly, lying face down as a small puddle of his own blood begins to form. A sharp kick underneath his chin sends the Faunus onto his back as their killer steps forward. As a dark cloud slowly begins to edge into his vision, the horned helmet, dragon ornament, and half-face mask seem to be demonic. The swordsman crouches down to one knee, his blades at the ready.

"When you arrive at hell, I have a message for you to give. Tell the devil that you two were sent by the _Jäger_. Burn in the eternal fire, prick-fuck," The armored man snarls in a whisper. The instant he finishes uttering the last syllable, the intruder straightens upright and raises a foot over the Faunus. Then the doomed rapist feels the footwear make contact with his mask, and then…

"Waste of oxygen, food, and water, those two were," Jake Torchwick, aka the _Jäger_ , says in disgust as he swiftly cleans both his weapons and the bottom of his shoe on the deer terrorist's uniform, swearing the sections of white fabric red. Thankful again for having activated his stealth semblance during his controlled fall, Jake decides to continue to activate his semblance, not knowing how many other Faunus terrorists he will need to dispatch as he searches for Ruby Rose, his fellow team leader, best friend, and girlfriend.

For a few minutes, not a single sound is created as Jake rapidly yet silently proceeds down the dark corridor. When he hears another group of footsteps, the _Jäger_ merely readies his grip on his shorter sword bayonet in case of having the need to throw it, while readying _Sōryū_ for yet another single-hand blow. A few seconds later, another pair of mask-wearing terrorists appears in the gloomy tunnels, a closed door leading to the unpaved streets of the last attempt of occupying Mountain Glenn right behind them. They raise their Dust-powered assault rifles, not knowing how futile it will be in the end.

The left Faunus stumbles backward in dumb shock as she feels something heavy slam into her chest. Her male companion raises his rifle, but it is too late for him. With a single stroke, the ancient _katana_ slices through skin, muscle, and bone. The severed head falls backward and rolls for a bit just before the rest of the slain Faunus hits the ground. Jake swiftly turns towards the other target, readying _Sōryū,_ blood dripping off of the metal, for a second strike as his free hand grips the hilt of the bayonet thrown into her body. The wounded White Fang feels the blade being yanked out of her.

A lack of mercy, or for that matter anything beyond a cold, controlled fury, is present on Jake's face as he swings the two weapons down diagonally across the torso, a rough _X_ being formed as blood wells up from the deep gashes. Before falling to the floor like her other slain comrades, she manages to address her killer.

"W-who are you?" She rasps, falling to her knees. The masked being clad in armor looks down without a tinge of remorse.

"I am become Death," Jake says, though it matters not. A dead corpse has no hearing, after all.

The _Jäger_ starts to move forward again when he suddenly hears movement directly behind him. He whirls around, ready to kill yet again, his _katana_ racing towards the neck of…Yang Xiao Long! With a grunt, Jake barely manages to halt the progress of _Sōryū,_ and then lowers both weapons. The buxom blonde looks startled and slightly afraid, and for good reason. Blake, Weiss, Zwei, and Oobleck are right behind, with only the corgi and Beacon teacher being unaffected by the devastation he had left behind.

"You're late."

"Hey, sorry about wanting to make sure that our rear was covered!" The blonde older sister of Ruby retorts. The green-haired Huntsman coughs into his fist as he steps forward.

"I believe that our energies as a group would be best spent by focusing on our primary objectives, which are finding Miss Rose and stopping whatever it is the White Fang is doing. Miss Xiao Long, if you would give Mister Jake his rifle back?" Not sheathing _Sōryū,_ the _Jäger_ swiftly shoulders his single-shot black powder rifle over his left shoulder, bayonet having been swiftly fitted back onto the front of the barrel, allowing for it to be brought to bear swiftly.

"For Ruby," Jake says in a hushed tone. The three older teammates of his girlfriend all nod in reply as they ready their weapons, stony determination plainly evident on their features and in their body language. Inside his mind, the _Jäger_ resolves to not stop until Ruby is rescued. IF she has been hurt, there will be hell to pay, and the same is true if his father is there. With that promise in mind, Jake then steps aside, both hands gripping the leather-clad hilt of _Sōryū_ while he gives a look with a hint of mischief towards the brawler of Team RWBY. "If you would do the honors, Yang?" Jake asks, looking towards a now-grinning Yang, who cracks her knuckles in response as she steps forward.

"Everyone, you might want to cover your ears and brace yourselves! I'm starting this party with a Yang!"

' _Oh, for fuck's sake…'_

 **And done! Sorry for the rather shortness of this chapter, but I shall be making a massive effort to have the next chapter be at least two thousand, hopefully even more, words long. Tomorrow the start is my last full week of high school, and I shall graduate after testing on June 10** **th** **, one day after my birthday! I have gotten some major good karma happen to my life, including regaining a friendship I have highly sought, and getting my driver's license! Once summer hits in full swing, I will plan on posting on a regular schedule, but fear not! I have no plan of killing this story! I also wish to dedicate this chapter, the start of a new me, to my three best, closest, and most trusted high school friends, who I am so lucky to know that each of them values her friendship with me just as much as I do them, and my little sister Arley, who introduced me to RWBY in the first place! As always, leave your thoguhts below, thank you for the support, and until next time! Next chapter: Underground, Part Two**


	26. XXIV Underground, Part Two

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Four: Underground, Part Two**

 **MorgothII: Hello everyone! To quote Mushu…I LIVE! It has been almost two fucking months since I updated, super sorry. Just been dealing with a mega-ton of shit, which I will explain down below! Please enjoy!**

With a loud boom, the entire cavern containing the underground city of Mountain Glenn shudders as a certain buxom blond brawler smashes open not just a door, but the entire wall. A thick cloud of smoke and dust replaces the now-empty space formerly separating the five fighters and their foes. The nearby White Fang members are startled, weapons being drawn after a few precious moments. Something that would be quick to cost them dearly, though they did not, and for quite a few, would not know. Instinctively, the dozen or so Faunus terrorists who are nearest to the new 'doorway' form a loose half-circle. Towards the center, a tall, male goat Faunus, an officer of medium rank, looks over his shoulder towards the larger amount of White Fang members also readying to fight off the intruders.

"Come on ya miserable, stinkin lot! Prepare to open—"

A loud bang from behind the obscuring particles of debris, now starting to fade, silences the officer in the form of an almost half-inch wide lead bullet. The now-unmasked (and somewhat faceless) officer doesn't even hit the ground before a second _bang_ is heard. A sharp, and brief, cry of pain is drawn out before a second White Fang member falls backwards, her left shoulder already starting to stain with crimson. A third White Fang terrorist is killed before a long, entirely different object slices through the now barely-present makeshift smokescreen. A horrendous, wet gurgle is heard as a fourth Faunus drops his assault rifle, his hands going to his throat, now pierced by a bayonet attached to the front of a rifle.

Then what appears to be an armored, bloodthirsty demon rushes through. The blue armor with yellow highlights, the snarling, golden dragon between two horns on the top of the helmet, the half-mask etched with a snarling mouth, and the blazing, brown eyes of Jake Torchwick, the ancient _katana_ known as _S_ _ōryū_ held in a two-handed form, the nil-unbreakable blade overhead. He dashes towards the nearest masked figure in a white robe.

Before anyone, friend or foe of the _Jäger_ , is able to react, the warrior slices at the unlucky ferret Faunus. The blade cleaves straight through the muscle and bone of the right shoulder, exiting with ease slightly below the left armpit. The bisected body falls in two separate directions, the upper torso forward, the rear backwards. Jake ignores the gory sight, slicing the curved blade through the throat of the terrorist to the right. With a flick of his wrists, _Sōryū_ bursts out of the throat, before cleanly decapitating her comrade to the right, the warthog terrorist's stump squirting blood. The seventh Faunus, an ape, falls to his knees after a horizontal slash cleaves through the flesh of his stomach, his last efforts being the attempt of keeping his entrails from spilling out. Jake yanks out his rifle and bayonet from the slain terrorist he had impaled, deftly swinging it across his back as he continues to cut down all who oppose him.

A boar terrorist, who is braver (or stupider) than the others, charges forward at the _Jäger_ with a snarl. The White Fang member has his own sword drawn in an overhead strike at the assailant butchering his comrades before his eyes. A hoarse shout escapes his throat as he swings his sword down with all his might. Jake chooses to not simply deflect the blade. Instead, he spins to the side, swing his own blade downwards. The Faunus stares numbly at the bloody stumps, his two severed hands still clutched to the sword. A sudden, unexpected, and violent yank of his neck breaks it, Jake's attention once more focused on the living foes before him.

A horrified lizard Faunus takes a step back, a move copied by a fair amount of the other terrorists, before pointing a trembling hand towards the seemingly unstoppable creature, letting out a shrill shout.

"What the fuck!"

"We gotta get out of here!"

"Fall back!"

"Mercy, mer—ack!"

Behind Jake, now cautiously emerging, Team RWBY, minus their young leader who bears the same name, and their green-haired professor/doctor Oobleck, warily gaze upon the sole member of Team JÄGER. Yang breaks the silence, though thankfully without making one of the terrible and bastardized creations she calls puns.

"Well, this is a thing." Her cat Faunus partner turns her head slightly to deliver an extremely unamused glare, while Weiss simply shakes her head at the ongoing understatement. The rapid-talking Huntsman in charge of the group coughs slightly.

"I feel that, while brutal, even unsavory, Mister Jake has the right idea. We need to smash through until we find Miss Rose, and discover and stop whatever the White Fang is planning."

With grim nods from all three of the seventeen-year-old girls, the four join the fray, closely following Jake and his carnage. The half-sister of Jake's girlfriend fires round after round of highly explosive shotgun shells from her Ember Celica whenever large clusters of terrorists appear, or at haphazardly organized Dust crates and munition piles. The resulting explosions shake the underground cavern. Weiss uses her glyphs to outmaneuver unprepared grunts, swiftly disarming them with her rapier, Myrtenaster, occasionally firing out bursts of Dust of various kinds. Blake uses her clone semblance, the useless copies being destroyed while the ninja uses Gambol Shroud to strike and disarm the then-startled terrorists from different angles. Jake, however, ignores all. In fact, he only comes to a stop when the group arrives into the underground railyard that had been sealed off years ago, where a restored train is warming up.

It also happens to be where Jake's father, Roman Torchwick, along with a number of White Fang 'soldiers' are about to attack the short girl who is clearly trying to escape. Jake recognizes the girl as an unarmed Ruby Rose. Behind his mask, Jake's seemingly smoldering eyes narrow even further, his scowl fully transforming into an almost-feral snarl equally terrifying as the expression of his mask. In a swift motion typical of the young warrior, _Sōryū_ is sheathed with one hand, while the other unslings his self-built single-shot rifle, a bullet already chambered. Before his other hand grips the wooden frame surrounding the metal barrel, Jake slides out several more rounds from his waist belt, gripping them by the base between his knuckles. While he rarely uses this technique, it is useful in having ammunition at the ready for rapid fire.

He skids to a halt, stopping with one knee kneeling, before squeezing the trigger. While his girlfriend is directly in front of his father, and thus risking a possibility, however remote, of hitting the scythe-wielder instead, the four gun-wielding terrorists standing between the couple, weapons at the ready and aimed at the silver-eyed girl, are an equally worthwhile target. He squeezes the trigger, causing the striking pin to slam forward, hitting the primer. The gun bucks backwards like the _Jäger_ has gotten used to, the lead bullet spiraling out behind a small, brief jet of flame from partially or unburnt black powder. Jake swiftly operates the lever that lowers the breech block, the spent drawn brass casing being flung out. A second bullet swiftly being placed into the exposed breech while the lever is pushed back up, thus sealing the rear of the gun, now ready to be fired again.

Meanwhile the first bullet shatters the back of the head of the far right terrorist, her comrade directly next to her staggers backwards as the other two masked criminals slightly lower their own pistol and rifle, craning their own necks to spy on their unexpectedly slain comrade. The rifle-toting Faunus Stumbles forward as the second .469 inch lead bullet slams in the center of his back between the shoulder blades, severing the spinal column. One of the two surviving male terrorists, both armed with a Dust-powered machine pistol, spins around...just in time to meet a third bullet through his mouth.

The last remaining White Fang member tires to run away, towards the train Roman Torchwick and his White Fang cronies are now boarding. A fourth bullet, followed by a sharp _bang_ , ends the attempt, permanently. Ruby rushes forward as her older (and far taller) boyfriend stands up and straightens his back, his rifle's butt resting on the ground as his free hand holds gun upright halfway between the muzzle and the trigger. Fully prepared, the _Jäger_ doesn't stumble backwards when the leader of Team RWBY slams into him, tightly embracing him. Jake, a gentle smile behind his slightly bloodied mask, gives a warm, one-armed hug, before a second voice shouts out.

"RUBY!" Yang shouts, causing said Huntress-in-training to break away from the hug and jump into the arms of her older, blonde half-sister. Said blonde spins around with Ruby in her, while Weiss, Blake, and Doctor Oobleck all gather around the youngest student attending Beacon. The SDC heiress then speaks up.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, I'm FINE!" Ruby answers rapidly, her sister putting her down while the black-and-red haired girl continues to speak. "But listen! Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down there!"

"What?" Blake asks while she returns Crescent Rose, in sniper mode, to its rightful owner. Jake merely growls, his body stiffening as he rests a hand on the hilt of the sheathed _Sōryū_.

"Androids, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars!"

"That's ridiculous; these tunnels have been sealed for years! The tracks lead to a dead-end!" Oobleck counters. Suddenly, a harsh feedback is heard as a PA system is activated. Jake's growl becomes a snarl as his father's voice echoes in the desolated Cavern.

" _Get to your places! We are leaving NOW!"_

The order is punctate by a loud hiss of steam as the train slowly begins to move. Yang speaks up, stating the rather obvious fact.

"Well it sounds like they're going somewhere!"

"We need back up!" Ruby adds. "Let me call Jaune!" She pulls out her Scroll and dials the number belonging to the blonde leader of Team JNPR. However, a flashing message puts a stop to her plan.

"I can't get through!" Ruby almost whines. Her partner states the obvious question.

"So what do we do?" Weiss asks. His thermos resting against his shoulder, Doctor Oobleck answers the Schnee's question.

"I believe we only have one option."

Switching her baby into scythe mode, and chambering a fresh round, Ruby answers the question.

"We're stopping that train."

Jake grunts before running forward, the others close behind him.

 **A few minutes later…**

Jake dispassionately watches as the Faunus terrorist tumbles down the tunnel, the blood from his slit throat dripping off of Jake's sword bayonet. The others decide to not comment on the violent killing as they then climb onto the roof of the rearmost boxcar.

"Hurry children! We must get to the front and stop this train!" Oobleck says, repeating Ruby's statement. Jake, standing on the edge of the boxcar and preparing to leap onto the next car, pauses and looks around, his rifle at the ready with the still-bloody bayonet reattached, when Weiss speaks in an unusually nervous voice.

"Uhhh…Professor?"

"Doctor," Oobleck almost growls. Weiss points down the hatch, having noticed something they had missed while climbing to the top.

"What's that?"

"That, my dear, appears to be a bomb." Everyone takes a slight step backwards while Oobleck examines the Dust bomb, crouching on one knee and leaning forward.

"Heads up," Jake simply says.

"We've got baddies!" Ruby also says at that moment, pointing ahead.

Dozens of White Fang terrorists climb onto the roof of one of the boxcars closer to the engine. Mostly unarmed, though a few carrying swords, they start to advance towards the fighters. Jake readies his rifle, a loud bang going off, and a body falls in mid-jump, the loud howl of the wheels thankfully masking the squishing sound as the rest of the boxcars and flatbed car run over it. Already reloading, the armored rifle-wielder leaps onto the next boxcar, firing his gun a second time, a rat Faunus falling onto his back as blood leaks out of the large bullet hole in the center of his chest. Doctor Oobleck clears his throat.

"Well, I didn't expect them to go…" Oobleck is interrupted by a loud beep. "…easy on us." He stands upright. "Time to go!" As the others follow the leader of Team JÄGER, the green-haired history professor places a hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Blake, detach the caboose! It will kill us all!"

"On it!" She replies, jumping down to the coupling, preparing to use Gambol Shroud to break the metal link…which uncouples itself before she delivers the strike.

"Huh? It de-coupled itself!" Blake shouts to the older Huntsman, who pokes his head over the edge.

"What?" Yang then steps forward, looking down at her partner while addressing their teacher.

"I guess he really doesn't want us on this train!"

"No shit!" Jake shouts as yet another cry of pain echoes, quickly muffled by the explosion of the detached boxcar. A large could of debris falls from the roof. Once again, the educator with a doctoral states the obvious.

"That's not good." Jake groans when he sees what Ruby has found.

"Uhh, neither is this!"

"Another bomb?" Blake asks in shock. Jake's brown eyes, currently cold, make direct contact with the green-haired teacher's glasses. They both jump onto the next car, Jake laying covering fire against the seemingly-endless stream of terrorists that are rapidly approaching.

"No, no, no…" Oobleck mutters as he reaches the roof access hatch, opening it up while ignoring the sounds of gunfire and the ejected brass casings nearby. He looks over his shoulder while Team RWBY and their mascot corgi approach to announce his finding.

"They all have bombs!"

At that moment, the rear boxcar's bomb activates, and is remotely detached. The girls barely managing to land on the new rear boxcar safely before the gap between the two boxcars grows too big.

"This doesn't make sense!" Yang states in a frustrated tone.

Before anyone could try to provide a theory, a loud voice draws their attention back towards the front of the train. Despite a dozen or so deaths, the near-suicidal persistence of the White Fang members has allowed them to being almost on top of the boarders.

"Get the humans!" shouts a female deer Faunus officer.

Jake silences the terrorist with a skull-shattering shot. Instead of reloading, however, Jake grabs his gun slightly in front of the trigger guard, turning it into a short spear, while his other hand swiftly draws forth _Sōryū_ , his face once again twisted up in rage. The first two terrorists, both muscular males who appear to have been in many a fist fight, are caught off-guard by the sudden assault. The one on the left lets out a terrifying, shrill scream as the serrated blade of the bayonet sinks deep into his stomach, swiftly being twisted to the side, widening the wound before being violently yanked out. Stunned, the dying White Fang member is sent flying off the train when a sharp jab to his side is delivered from the wooden butt of the _Jäger_ 's rifle. At the same time, the head of the other fighter is sent bouncing down the last few boxcars after a single, deftly-delivered strike from Jake's _katana_.

Meanwhile, the girls of Team RWBY also engage the other attackers, though mostly disabling or knocking out their foes, still believing in killing anything that wasn't a Grimm only as a last resort. Regardless, the remaining attackers are either killed, disabled, or knocked off the train quickly. The victory is short-lived, however, as the detached boxcar explodes, causing another gaping hole in the roof. Grimm quickly flood through the hole. Oobleck just lets out a long-suffering sigh.

"Oh, dear…"

Then the creatures of Grimm start to chase the train.

"He's leading Grimm to the city!"

"What?!" Weiss says, shocked. Doctor Oobleck explains in his typical rapid-fire manner of talking.

"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"

"That's Insane!" Blake counters.

"Unfortunately, that is my father," Jake darkly mutters.

"We have to hurry!" Oobleck commands, as yet another bomb-car detaches. He points to WBY of RWBY. "You three! Go below and try to stop those bombs!"

"What about us?" Ruby asks. Doctor Oobleck opens his mouth, but her boyfriend is swift in cutting him off.

"We're going to do as you say: stop this train. And I will kill the motherfucker in charge!"

 **Later…**

A loud bang is barely heard by the far-louder groaning of steel as the tungsten-cored bullet from Jake's rifle tears through the cockpit, and the head of the pilot, of a slightly water-downed Atlas Paladin mech suit, purloined by his bastard of a father. The now uncontrolled robotic armor topples to the side, bouncing several times down the track, crushing a dozen Beowolves and Creepers. Doctor Oobleck, Zwei, and Ruby are also engaging a number of other stolen Paladins. Taking a brief breather as he loads yet another of his precious, and now dwindling, stock of the so-called Anti-Grimm round, his Scroll goes off. It can't be from Vale, due to the interference, so it must be someone nearby. Someone who is also on the train.

The _Jäger_ , confused as to why he would be getting a message on his Scroll, double-checks the sender ID of the message. Yang Xiao Long. His eyes narrow as he reads the text, spinning around towards the roof of the cart, still attached, to where the group had split up. He reads it one more time.

 _Blondie is down, sorry about that bro. You need to haul ass and get here ASAP. Stop me, free me, whatever, but if you don't get here within the next few minutes, at least one of us will die. Last railcar-Neo_

With his free hand, the _Jäger_ grabs the small electronic signal jammer from his belt. He activates it, gripping it tightly. Still holding his _katana_ , Jake jumps down to see a tall, masked woman with wild black hair, dressed in blood-red clothing, and wielding a massive _ōdachi_ , lunges towards Neo, who is standing over the prone form of Yang, parasol in one hand, and apparently the hidden blade whose hilt served as the handle for the laced-covered weapon. His twin sister's eyes are both grey, her indication of fear.

Without a moment's hesitation, the seventeen-year-old tosses the now-active jammer towards his sister, who, with a hopeful expression on her lips, grabs it, dropping her weapons. Jake is unable to enjoy this seemingly small victory, for the other, older woman continues to advance at a rapid pace towards a now-distracted Neo. Promptly throwing himself in the middle, Jake barely manages to block the longer blade of solid red Dust. Looking through the narrow slits of his adversary's Nevermore-like mask, a small part of his brain takes note of the red eyes and pale skin. There's something familiar about her, but he doesn't know what, and quite frankly at the moment, he doesn't give a damn.

Wordlessly, the two sword-wielders exchange blows, always blocked, but yet with neither blade being damaged or even notched from the various, violent impacts. Sparks fly through the air every now and then. The masked woman finally manages to score a (superficial) hit when she uses the longer blade of her sword to force _Sōryū_ downwards and to the side. Jake barely finches, however, as the very tip of the weapon slides down a crude vertical path, starting from underneath the brim of his helmet on the right side, and ending down at his left side of his chin, cutting across the bridge of his nose, and breaking the lower face mask. The throat guard is intact, and stays in place along with the now-split mask.

With an angry howl, Jake delivers his own blow to his opponent's mask, apparently made of metal, for a deep gouge is formed, though not broken. The woman jumps backwards, and the two sword-wielders exchange a brief moment of appraisal. Then she turns around and slashes her _ōdachi_ through the air, a red-and-black portal forming. Yang groans as the Torchwick twins watch the masked swordswoman step through the portal. Once said-woman disappears along with the portal, Jake lowers _Sōryū_ , while Neo sheathes her blade to back within its parasol sheath. The two siblings look at one another for a moment. Despite the slow but steady stream of blood welling up and dripping down his face, Jake doesn't mess with it, watching as Neo's eyes, which are both a warm brown, her indication of overwhelming joy.

Without a word, the long-separated teens embrace each other tightly. Eyes start to become misty, and it is such a rare occasion for Jake to be unable to speak, his throat clogged with so many emotions. Finally, the two break the embrace. The taller Jake looks down at his shorter newly-emancipated sister, who clips the small, durable signal jammer to the back of her belt for safe keeping. As an added precaution, due to Yang's overall state of oblivion, she pockets the Scroll she had used to contact the _Jäger_ from between the generous cleavage of Ruby's sibling into her pocket. _'I'll give it back once we're safe,'_ She tells him using their special-coded sign language. Her twin nods.

"Sounds ok to me. Once we get back to Beacon, I will make sure that the mini-bomb is safely removed. Just because our father will be arrested, doesn't mean that we should leave anything up to—"He never gets a chance to finish the sentence. Sadly, typical of his overall luck since being captured by the staff of Beacon, the heart-warming moment is rudely shattered by a loud siren. "Shit, the train! It's going to hit the sealed barrier! He's using it as a fucking battering ram, sis! Once he breaches the city, White Fang and Grimm will swarm into the city!" Jake shouts, finally realizing what the plan is for using a train. He raises his _katana_ , swiftly reversing it in his grips. Neo let's put a silent sigh, a deadpan expression clearly evident on her face.

'… _fuck our luck, bro.'_

"Brace yourselves!" Jake shouts to the slightly awake Yang and Neo, the latter nodding and grabbing onto the blonde brawler who had only minutes ago been at her mercy. Jake falls to one knee and thrusts _Sōryū_ into and through the floor of the railcar, the mighty blade now an anchor for the impact. ' _Please Ruby, don't die,'_ is what Jake's last thought it before the sealed tunnel is met by a rushing train.

Even for a skilled veteran such as Jake, no one can ever be truly prepared for the violent, jarring impact created by a train at full speed smashing through thick barriers. Metal groans and spark fly as the lights flicker rapidly. Jake grits his teeth and tightens his grip on the hilt of his sword, preventing the otherwise strong probability of being thrown backwards as a large, gaping hole is undoubtedly formed up above, if the upwards ascending position of the railcars are any useful indication.

The following moments become a hazy blur. Somehow, Jake, Neo, and a fully-awake (or at least, as much as can be for her) Yang, stand up among several large boulders in what appears to be the center of Vale. A loud wail, mechanical and computerized, causes the _Jäger_ to wince, his damaged hearing unappreciative of this nuisance while his Aura works to repair the internal damage. Then he realizes that it is the invasion alert. Grabbing his Scroll, he presses a button, hoping that the special squad he had summoned just before the departure to Mountain Glenn has arrived.

A groan nearby, followed by a couple more, reminds Jake of his girlfriend. "Ruby," he whispers, rushing over to the young Rose. He helps her up, and the couple shares a brief smile of relief, though Ruby's silver eyes widen at the damage to her boyfriend's face. But before she can ask what happened, Ruby notices the stunned citizens of Vale all around the now-ruined city square.

Then the ground rumbles, and Team RWBY looks behind them as more rumble is thrown skywards as a large King Taijitu breaks through to the surface. Hundreds of various Grimm species follow behind the two-headed, snake-like shadow demon. No longer stunned, the helpless civilians run away, screaming. Feeding off of the sudden surge of raw negativity, the Grimm push farther into city, with White Fang members also entering the city, though most head into buildings, armed with their Dust-powered firearms.

For a moment, Jake watches as Ruby looks at the horrific scene, her face unsure of what to do. Then it tightens, a determined look covering her almost child-like features. Grabbing _Sōryū_ , lying nearby, Jake takes up a fighting stance. His armor, while chipped in some places and battle-scarred virtually everywhere, the bright blue coloring faded slightly by the fine layer of dust covering it, he looks first at his twin, also in a relaxed, deceptive stance that is actually her own fighting stance. Then he looks at his girlfriend, now surrounded by the equally-determined members of her team.

"This is it. This is what you trained for, and what I have dreaded yet been prepared to stop. We are the only line of defense! So let's kill these demons! FOR VALE!" Jake's shout s echoed by the others, before all six teen fighters charge towards the Grimm, many of their attention now focused on the oncoming attackers.

The Breach, and the fight to plug it, has begun.

 **And finished! Already started the next chapter, but I am sad to say that I can make no further promises beyond hopefully publishing it no later than early September, though most likely sooner, like August. This story is far, far from being forgotten or abandoned. I just had a lot going on. On the tenth of June, I graduated from Middle Creek High School, North Carolina. On the tenth of August, I shall be moving into my dorm room for my first year of college. I have been going for a period of time feeling directionless, unable to interact with others as much as I would like, as well as dealing with some damn drama of the personal sort. Now, however, I shall return to this story. I wish to thank each and every single one of you wonderful men and women, boys and girls, for reading this story, waiting so patiently. Since the first day this story was published, back in early January of this year, I have yet to deal with a day of no views, even during this nearly-two month hiatus of sorts. With (at the moment of this chapter being finished and posted) over 27,000 views, 91 favorites, 131 followers, and 80 reviews, this story is my most successful one yet, and also my proudest work yet! I again sincerely thank each and every one of you from the deepest corner of the bottom of my heart! God bless you lot! As always, please feel free to leave a review, comment, though, or any general feedback, favorite or follow this story, or even PM me with your personal thoughts on this story! Well, until next time, have a wonderful day/evening/morning/night! Next Chapter: The Breach**


	27. XXV The Breach

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Five: The Breach**

Vale was in absolute chaos.

The air is filled with the blaring wail of the Grimm invasion sirens, long inactive aside from the occasional practice drill. Unarmed citizens run away, screaming in fear. Grimm howl, eager to finally get the chance to satisfy their endless bloodlust, long denied by the city's formidable, natural defenses long protecting it and its dwellers, and sounds of combat are somewhat muted by these other sounds.

"Fuck Salem…" Jake mutters, once again fighting the urge to wipe a hand across his face. The mostly still-flowing blood is leaking down his now-cracked mask, and threatening to get into his right eye. A snarling alpha Beowolf lunges forward, thinking that its 'prey' is distracted. The _Jäger_ almost tuts as he takes the shadowy demon off-guard when he runs forward. The large Grimm tries to disembowel the armored sword-wielder, but Jake simply ducks forward slightly. Once underneath the striking capabilities of the fearsome wolf-demon, the _Jäger_ strikes in a single, precise, vertical cut.

With a sickening squelch, the mid-torso region of the alpha Beowolf splits in two. A spray of red gore spews out, the corpse already starting to dissolve into the shadows it is made of before hitting the ground. A second, lesser wolf demon, probably the beta of the back, also lunges forward, this time from behind Jake. With a silent sigh, he reverses the grip of his _katana_ , _Sōryū_ , before thrusting the ancient, curved blade directly into the heart of the Beowolf, slaying it.

A thud next to him almost startles the _Jäger_ , who turns to see the sight of Neo removing the thin blade, concealed within her lace parasol, from the center-top of an Ursa skull, doing a playfully-mocking bow at her twin. Rolling his eyes, Jake can't help but smile, still giddy about finally being reunited with her. Returning the smile, the former, forced cohort of their father then leaps forward to another Ursa nearby, slamming the narrow blade directly into one of the glowing, red eyes, blinding it. With the grace and speed that has always defined her, Neo quickly delivers a rapid series of vicious strikes all over the head and torso of the stunned Grimm. Unable to fully comprehend what is happening, or being able to catch its tiny, female assailant, the bear-like Grimm quickly succumbs to the combined lethality of the various lacerations and holes.

Team RWBY, also nearby, is also holding their ground. Despite their youth, the four girls continually carve up the Grimm. Despite having been just knocked down from the air by a trio of large Nevermores, Yang quickly gets up, added by her semblance. Picking up a nearby, and thankfully empty, car, she punches it hard, using a shotgun round from her weapon to increase the force. The vehicle crushes dozens of Creepers. Weiss alternates between impaling Beowolves with Myrtenaster and forming up ice shields and glyphs, deflecting attacks, or simply tossing the attackers away from her. Blake and Ruby alternate between using their mecha-shift weapons between melee and ranged modes.

Despite their best efforts, the tide of Grimm seems to, at best, maintain itself, and at worse, increase. They all know that the best way to end the demonic onslaught would be to plug the hole. The problem is that, for the moment at least, they are just barely managing to not be pushed back. Thus, any thoughts of moving closer to the breach are rendered as nothing more than fantasies.

With his trademark calmness and swift strikes, Jake disembowels a large Ursa that had foolishly stood up on its hind legs. Letting out a massive, rage/pain-induced howl, it falls forward. Not so much to be a mercy killing blow as to be a double-tap, the leader of a secret order simply plunges the blade down between where the first vertebrae and the skull meet, severing it. "Where the fuck are they?" He mutters to himself as he falls to one knee, raising _Sōryū_ above his head and allowing the onrushing Beowolf to slice itself open upon the sharpened metal. Blood spills onto his helmet and armor, before the two halves, already beginning to dissolve, land behind him on either side.

A coarse, almost guttural voice draws the attention of the _Jäger_ , and the others, and the surrounding Grimm.

" _Pour la France!"_

For the briefest of moments, all fighting, both human (and Faunus) and Grimm, stops in the now-battered city square, and the only sound are the panting of the five fighters take the moment to take a breather. Jake looks up at the building behind the curiously-inactive King Taijitu, a small smile appearing beneath his split mask at what he sees.

A large man jumps down, slamming something into the white head of the Grimm, killing it and stunning the surviving head. Taking the moment to strike, Ruby leaves behind her trademark trail of roses as she uses her enhanced speed to zip forward. With a short shout, she swings Crescent Rose, its sharp blade slashing at the trunk of the snake-like Grimm. The over-sized scythe cuts through the scales, flesh, and bone, and the severed sections thud to the ground. Pausing, Jake's girlfriend finally manages to catch sight of the newcomer.

He appears to be well-built. His weapon is a long shaft of metal, ending with a cylindrical head mounting three spikes, each almost two inches long, in rows along the sides, for a total of twelve. A simple metal ring dangles at the bottom of the grip of the mace, for being clipped onto his belt. A simple metal breastplate covers his chest, with several small sections of armor covering his shoulders and upper arms. A long-barreled revolver is tucked into his belt, along with at least a half-dozen, lemon-shaped grenades, around his belt. His eyes are hidden by a pair of goggles and a slight mask. His mouth is also covered, this time with a large, greyish-colored cloth. In fact, only the tanned hands gripping the end of his mace are the only organic parts she can see. He rapidly approaches her lover, coming to a stop and giving a quick salute.

" _Vous ne nous avez pas dit que vous apporteriez des amis,_ Jäger." The voice is muffled by the fabric around his mouth, not that it would make a difference to the scythe-wielder, being in what must be one of the dialects spoken in the more isolated, and ancient, settlements of Remnant.

"Oh, shut the hell up! They're not friends! Where are the others?"

" _Ils sont au club comme vous l'avez mentionn_ _é. Meneur d'escouade Brown m'a ordonné de vous trouver une fois que nous avons entendu l'alarme. Elle et les autres tiendront leurs postes, mias elle attend votre commande, Commandant_."

"Look out, Boarbatusk!" Yang's warning causes the two to spin around. Sure enough, an average-sized sample of the boar-like shadow demons has just finished curling into a ball, rapidly approaching Jake and the newcomer. Instead of firing or search for cover, however, the two armored warriors merely hold their ground. Ruby's silver eyes widen in horror, running forward, her instinct being to defend her loved ones.

When the oncoming creature of Grimm is only a foot or so away from hitting the two men, the newcomer simply swings his mace in a two-handed grip with a grunt. The spiked metal head slams into the right side of the spinning body. With a sickening crunch that is made when bone is crushed, the curled-up swine Grimm slams into a wall. It twitches for a few moments, the side of its head partially caved in, so powerful was the strike. Then it goes still, smoke being emitted from the fresh corpse.

She skids to a halt halfway there, her jaw dropping down for a few seconds. The only people she had ever seen capable of delivering such a large amount of devastating force were her sister and father. So, who the heck was this guy, and what is up with him knowing her boyfriend? Ruby finally manages to snap out of her mini-stupor, shaking her head rapidly. Fight first, ask questions later. She lunges towards an alpha Beowolf, decapitating it, leaving the several dozen incoming Creeper Grimm to the only two male warriors in the group.

Neither of the two combat veterans daunted, the newcomer deftly hooks his mace to his belt before grabbing two of the grenades from his belt. He tosses one to Jake, who catches it in one hand. Burying the tip of the nil-unbreakable sword into the ground, the _Jäger_ uses the now-free hand to pull the pin at the same time as the mace-wielder. Giving a short nod, they toss the two metal explosives at the Grimm mini-horde. Once more gripping his _katana_ , Jake braces himself.

The first half-dozen or so Creepers ignore the two objects. The rest are forced to notice it when the grenades explode. The bodies of the Grimm closest to the explosions are almost thoroughly shredded. The shrapnel debris created flies further outwards, creating severe lacerations. By the time the dust settles, the two can see that the Grimm are either vaporized, in the process of fading back into the shadows, or mortally wounded. Jake's eyes narrow, however, at the fleeting sight of several white tunics fleeing into the depths of the now-chaotic city. Surviving White Fang members from the train, who are without a doubt scurrying to their base to plan the next phase of their plan.

Not if the _Jäger_ has anything to say about it. He grits his teeth as he decapitates yet another Grimm with a single, clean sweep of _Sōryū_.

"Rouille! New plan! Track those sons of bitches, and find their base of operation. Don't be seen. I will regroup with you, Brown, and the others once you find out where it is. Understood?" Jake says rapidly, speaking loud enough only so that the newcomer, Rouille, is able to hear it. He nods.

" _Oui._ "

With that, the powerful warrior silently departs. Jake notices that his girlfriend is shooting him a questioning look, to which he signals that he will explain later. Swiftly withdrawing his bayonet from its sheathe at his belt, having been detached from his rifle due to the lack of being able to use the weapon in such close-quarters, Ruby is taken aback when Jake throws it past her.

A wet gurgling noise alerts her to the now non-threatening Beowolf, slumping to the ground as crimson liquids pour out of its ragged throat, the leather-clad handle of the short sword-like bayonet protruding in a most obvious manner. Once again, however, Ruby's unique silver eyes widen in fear, pointing behind Jake with one small hand.

"Look out behind you!" The young reaper shouts, just as the _Jäger_ hears a loud, furious hiss. He rapidly spins around, holding his _katana_ in his typical ready stance. The black head of a second King Taijitu emerges from the hole. Its thick, scaly body is tensed, ready to strike out with its over-sized, venomous fangs. But before either of them strike, a low rumble grows louder. Looking over his shoulder, Jake leaps backwards just as Nora slams Magnhild directly in the center of the Grimm's skull, shattering it. Unable to support itself due to the second head still below the hole, the half-alive shadow demon tumbles back down.

The rest of Team JNPR quickly joins the battle, soon followed by Team CFVY, the robotic military of Atlas, those of the staff of Beacon not on the mid-year missions, and any Huntsmen or Huntresses that were in the area. The fighting becomes a blur for the _Jäger_ , one moment sinking his sword into the throat of an Ursa, the next disemboweling a startled Boarbatusk. A snarling Beowolf, foam dripping out of its fanged mouth, lunges forward, before letting out a shrill yelp as one of its forepaws is severed. Said yelp is swiftly silenced next when _Sōryū_ is thrusted upwards underneath the lower jaw, shattering bone and piercing whatever the hell it is that they use for a brain.

Soon, the remaining Grimm are wiped out, and Goodwitch uses her semblance to seal the hole Torchwick had created, thus ending the event. While Team RWBY talks with their fellow teams, Jake watches with narrowed eyes as he spots the silver-haired man, and mint green-haired woman that have been accompanying the woman known as Cinder Fall. Between them is his father, Roman Torchwick, being lead to a Bullhead transport after being 'arrested'. Wiping the blood away from the lower half of his face, Jake turns to Neo, resorting to their old method of coded hand communication. _Watch my back. I need to make a call._ Neo, though slightly confused, slightly nods her head once, before gesturing back.

 _Ok, bro. Just be quick. It might be inactive, but I would like to remove that bomb very soon._

Pulling out his small, specially-made Scroll, he presses a button, opening an encrypted line. "This is _Jäger_. I am declaring that we are at FAST PACE. Summon the rest of the Order, and be ready to send another five squads at the end of this week. I will make contact on which squads to send here. Am I clear?"

" _Hai, Dai-gensui!"_

After hearing the garbled (due to maintaining secrecy) response, Jake swiftly turns off and pockets the mini-Scroll. He looks back at his sister. "Ready?" He quietly asks her. Neo nods, her eyes both turning pink, a determined look on her face. As the Bullhead, with Torchwick aboard, takes off, the two walk towards Goodwitch. The Ozpin's blonde second-in-command first looks startled, before scowling at the forced student's companion.

"I hope you have a good reason for her being here, and not arrested?" Jake grunts, his tone resorting back to the typical gruffness.

"Sister, forced by our father, has a bomb in the back of her head that you might want to remove." Glynda's purple eyes widen, but before she can speak, Jake cuts her off. "I am jamming the signal for now, but the sooner the explosive is removed, the better for all of us. I can vouch for her. If needed be, she will stay with me at Beacon."

Goodwitch stares at what she sees as an insolent child harshly, before finally sighing. "Very well then. Miss Torchwick, follow me." The mentioned girl looks nervously at her brother. He in turn gives a reassuring nod.

"It will be fine. Hopefully, I will see you again either tonight or in the morning, as a truly free girl." Neo gives a slightly lopsided smile, before walking with Goodwitch.

As the two women walk towards a second Bullhead, this one headed to Beacon, Jake feels a slight tug on his armor. Turning around, the breath is almost knocked clean from his lungs as Ruby wraps her arms around him. She looks up at him, noting for the first time the large cut across his face that had also shattered his half-mask.

"Oh my god, what happened Jake?"

"It's from when I left to help Yang. Finally found a sword-wielder with skill. I'll be fine," He reassures her, leaning down slightly to deliver a peck on her forehead. The leader of Team RWBY simply squeezes his torso as she nuzzles her head against his chest. Her cute voice slightly muffled against the blue laminated metal armor, she whispers a question to him.

"So, is your twin free?"

"Yes, she is. Neo will be staying with me for now. So, I promised to explain to you what was up with the newcomer. IS there anything particular you want me to tell you—" Ruby cutes him off with a quick peck on his lips.

"Later, after we take care of that cut. I think the others should hear about this as well." Jake nods once.

"As you wish."

 **Elsewhere in the City of Vale…**

Atop one of the buildings overlooking the scene of what the local media has swiftly dubbed, 'the Breach', Cinder Falls is addressing Emerald and Mercury. "All in all, I call today a success," The half-maiden purrs.

"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things," Her green-haired loyalist comments. Mercury nods his head in a rare sign of agreement with his partner.

"Yeah, a lot of Faunus didn't make it out of those tunnels. You still think the White Fang's going to listen to us?" He asks their leader. A new voice joins the conversation, as a bull Faunus with blood-red hair enters the conversation, his eyes and upper face covered with a Grimm-like mask.

"No. But they'll listen to me. Cinder, we need to talk about that human swordsman."

"I agree with you, Adam."

 **Meanwhile, in the mountains on the border of Vale and Vacuo…**

Few are able to observe the majestic mountains separating the fertile land of Vale and the inner desert of Vacuo. Thus, there is little chance of one knowing what lies beneath the mass of rocks. And thus, it is a perfect location for the central base of the recently-reorganized Order of the Mournful Dawn. While the exterior looks unchanged by anything save for the elements of nature and the passing of time, the interior is completely different.

Inside, bright factory-level floodlights hang from the ceiling, illuminating the rush of hundreds of men and women, checking their weapons and war machines. Orders are thrown about, and requests for equipment are considered. Officers point to maps as specialists gather their gears. Soldiers from all four nations ready their uniforms.

The Order is getting ready for war.

 **Translations:**

For France!

You did not tell us you would bring friends, _Jäger_.

They are at the club as you mentioned. Squad leader Brown ordered me to find you once we heard the alarm. She and the others will hold their posts, but she's waiting for your orders, Commander.

Yes.

 **And done! First chapter published since I started college, and having a rather good time, so far. A short chapter will (hopefully) be out this Friday, but not 100% sure. I am working on getting a proper schedule, so I will keep you guys and gals in the loop! Thanks again for the dedication in reading and following this story despite the recent, long waits in updates. Also, sorry if the breach is shorter than some of you would have liked, but I did what I could. As always, please feel free to leave your thoughts below, and have a wonderful day! Until next time! Next: Truths Revealed**


	28. XXVI Truths Revealed

**J** **ä** **ger Chapter Twenty-Six: Truths Revealed**

 **MorgothII: Hi again, relatively short chapter, but with some fairly important information at the A/N down below. Anyways, enjoy!**

"…and so that is how I know him."

Back at Beacon, Team RWBY stares at the leader and sole member of Team JÄGER. After returning to Beacon, they had taken a few hours to clean up, perform maintenance on their gear, and nap before meeting up. The cut delivered across the _Jäger_ 's face has scabbed over, though the medic that Ruby had directed him to had informed the two that there would be a scar left behind. Their expressions range from admiration, disbelief, nervous, and stunned. Weiss finally breaks the silence.

"So, just to get this straight…you are a seventeen-year-old who is in command of a private army, which you feel that can give Atlas a run for its money?" Jake merely sighs at the heiress.

"No, I own a private pizza chain. Of course it is! But let's not get into semantics. You must all swear to not tell anyone, not even Team JNPR, about this."

"Why?" Yang asks. Again, Jake releases a short sigh. What to tell them? While he would love to tell his girlfriend the full truth, it could cause a mass-panic, due to her wanting to be the hero and stop Cinder Fall. While admirable, and with obvious good intentions, it would not end well for Ruby.

"I am under the suspicion that there are infiltrators in this school with hostile intentions towards the upcoming festival. I am not sure who they are, or how many. Thus the less people who know, the better." Ruby nods, a rare and solemn look on her youthful face.

"You can count on us, Jake! Oh, what about your sister? What's the deal with her?" A smile graces his lips.

"Neo is free, and being looked at by some of the best doctors in the city. Once that s all wrapped up, she will be staying here with me."

Yang's eye twitches slightly before the lavender orbs turn blood-red. She stands up suddenly and aggressively, her hair starting to brighten as rage floods her system at this revelation. Jake mentally sighs, having known that something like this would occur. How else would one respond about knowing that a person who had humiliatingly defeated and would have been most likely killed, if not for the intervention of others? Jake is also sure that there is virtually no chance of immediately diffusing the buxom blonde.

"WHAT?!" She roars. Again, Jake sighs as he crosses his arms across his chest. He refuses to be cowed by the fury of the powerhouse of Team RWBY.

"My sister is staying here, with me, for protection. Ozpin has already agreed to this, even if Ironwood wishes for it to be otherwise. If you have a problem with this, you can just take it up with the headmaster, Miss Xiao-Long."

"You fucking bastard!"

"I wish that was the case. Regardless, get this through your currently thick skull. Neopolitan Torchwick was forced to perform every last crime. If she even hesitated, our father would have blown. Her. Up." Before he can continue defending his sister, Jake's Scroll emits a low chime. Grabbing the electronic device, the _Jäger_ sees a message.

 _Sir, we found their main regrouping area. We are currently preparing our gear at the hideout. What are your instructions?_

Jake barely manages to suppress the savage grin that desires to grace his lips. He rapidly texts back.

 _We will strike tonight. I will be on my way over within an hour._

Powering down and pocketing the Scroll, Jake lets out a grunt. "I have some Order matters to attend to. Ruby, I will see you in the morning. All of you fought like lions. I am proud to fight alongside you lot." Ruby lets out a sigh of her own before walking over to her taller boyfriend. She hugs him gently.

"Just be safe, ok?" She pleads in a quiet whisper. Jake instantly nods his head once.

"Of course, my dear."

 **An hour later…**

Outside of the club building owned by Hei Xiong, a tall figure, clad in a heavily-tattered and well-used brown cloak enters the building. Only one of Junior's henchmen tries to stop the newcomer, but one of the nearly-unfortunate thug's companions rests a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"They're upstairs," The senior, on-duty bouncer whispers. His reply is only a grunt and a 100 Lien note.

Silently the _Jäger_ walks up the well-hidden stairs. Without making a noise, he swings open the door when he reaches the top. The room is extremely simple, with only three decent-sized tables, and five beds.

"Cap's here, luvs!"

"At ease," Jake says as he closes the door, a small grin finally appearing. Standing at the opposite end of the room, her flame-retardant outfit on, is a grinning 5'4" tall source of chipper energy, proven by her brown eyes that twinkle with mirth. Her spikey, short brown hair is shown as her full-covering gas mask rests on one of the tables in the center of the room, along with her main weapon: a flamethrower. A holstered pistol is strapped to her belt, along with a simple, iron club with a round head, and a number of incendiary grenades.

"Sergeant Brown. Are we ready?"

"Yes sir! Rouille mentioned that he saw at least fifty White Fang members enter the safe house, which the wankers have placed right next to the one that had housed those looted Paladin suits. Miss Sunshine over here retrieved the blueprints, though they're probably a bit outdated," She finishes with a shrug. The ironically-nicknamed mysterious (even to Jake, despite being the Grand Marshal of the Order) woman known as Strelok simply ignores the jab, her head covered with a hood, and her respirator and goggles present as always as she slips her secondary weapon, a seven-shot revolving carbine, into a holster on her right side of her hip. Her primary weapon, a massive, single-shot bolt action rifle, rests on the table nearest to her.

"Sir, I wish to also note that there is a very high probability of the presence of more terrorists." The armored raider says in English, though with the thick accent that shows his heritage. His heavily-scarred face is revealed, his protective facial gear having been taken off. His jade-green eyes are hardened, a clear sign of his state of preparation for tonight's strike. Jake nods his head again as he quickly examines the floor plans the sniper had retrieved.

"Gonzo, Fonzo, are the two of you ready?"

" _Sempre!"_ The two, heavily-armored Atlesian gorilla Faunus brothers say in unison. A heavy, belt-feed machine gun, belonging to the former, and two, stockless submachine guns welded together and each having a twenty-five round magazine on the top belonging to the latter are on the final table, along with a plain wooden box and a small canvas bag.

"You two will take the east entrance. Lena, you shall enter through the northern one. Strelok, you shall cover the southern and provide sniper fire for Rouille before entering. I will take the west door. Sergeant Brown, do you have the weapon I requested?"

Said woman nods several times with a slight grin. "Yes sir! It's in the box, along with your special attachment, and it is already loaded. The bag has about twenty extra cylinders also loaded. Cheers," She finishes rapidly, having grabbed the mentioned box before handing it to him.

Grunting in thanks, the _Jäger_ opens the wooden container to withdraw a revolver. Then he pulls out a second object, which is a long, black, cylindrical object: a suppresser for the gun. Jake swiftly screws it onto the threaded muzzle, before moving the hammer backwards. The cylinder holding seven specially-made rounds moves forward, forming a seal between the breech and the cylinder. _Sōryū_ still hidden across his back by his cloak, the _Jäger_ places the extra cylinders in his belt, making sure that they are placed in such a way so as to not move into one another and thus create excess noise.

Once finished, Jake then withdraws his bayonet from the leather sheathe at his side. While he had left his armor and beloved rifle back in his dorm room at Beacon, he had brought his two blades. His _katana_ was to be used only against skilled opponents or during drawn-out duels and he wasn't able to reload his revolver or needed to longer length of the sword. Tonight, he would rely primarily on a silenced pistol and a long knife, and of course, his unique stealth semblance.

"Excellent. Get some rest. We strike at midnight. Now the streets shall run with the blood of terrorists."

 **Ok, so some things to mention. Rouille is based on the Battlefield One Trench Raider kit. The others in the squad are also based on the other special kits in the same game. The revolver Jake is going to be using in the next chapter is based on a real, seven-round revolver, the Belgian-designed and Russian/USSR-issued service sidearm known as the Nagant M1895, which had a special, sealed firing system that gives this weapon the unusual ability to be fitted with a suppresser. Lena Brown looks like Tracer from Overwatch. Here are some basic overviews of the new OCs this chapter**

Name: Lena Brown

Gender: Female

Weapons: flamethrower named _Hooge_ , half dozen incendiary grenades, metal-headed club named _Aisne_ , C96 named _Mauser_

Armor: Gas mask and flame-retardant outfit

Other Important Details: Chipper, energetic, and friendly, she hides a dark past. Semblance is the ability to control massive infernos.

Name: Rouille Verdun

Gender: Male

Weapons: Simple, solid-steel spiked club mounted on a slender shaft named _Marne,_ six-shot single-action revolver in the forty-five caliber named _Gravenstafel_ , a dozen fragmentation grenades around his belt,

Armor: metal breastplate, face mask with goggles and facial wrappings, complete with metal cap

Other Important Details: Sole survivor of Vale mining village that was wiped out due to a nighttime Grimm attack by the Nuckelavee. Strength semblance is boosted by special drug cocktail that sends Rouille into a berserker rage. He is very solemn outside of combat, with a strong belief in honor, though he does contain a wit that borders sarcasm in battle.

Name: Strelok

Gender: Female

Weapons: 13mm Mauser 1918-T named _Cambrai_ , M1917 trench knife named _Champagne-Marne_ , Pieper revolving carbine named _Siete_

Armor: Brown hood, mouth respirator and separately attached googles

Other Important Details: Silent, her true name and motivations are currently unknown to the Order. She is rumored to have been a big-game hunter of Grimm who specialized in the harshest and most inhospitable areas throughout Remnant. Semblance unknown.

Name: Fonzo Verde

Gender: Male

Weapons: VIllar-Perosa named _Isonzo 12_ _th_ , frag grenades, solid iron trench mace named _Caporetto_

Armor: Metal armor plate covering head to waist

Other Important Details: Gorilla Faunus, former high-ranking officer in the Atlas Army before Human officers in the top brass accused the two brothers of trumped-up charges of treason, along with a number of Faunus soldiers and pro-Faunus right men and women that were in their unit. All were freed three years ago by Jake, and thus serve in the Order. He and his brother share a strong sense of justice and resentment of Atlas, and James Ironwood. Fonzo has a wiry build and a light coat of coarse black hair over body. Semblance reduces fatigue for a few hours.

Name: Gonzo Verde

Gender: Male

Weapons: MG '08/15 named _Passchendaele_ , pick-axe named _Monte Grappa_

Armor: Same as his brother

Other Important Details: Same as his brother, but much bulkier. Also has the same semblance.

 **As always, thank you for taking the time to read another chapter of my story! Again, sorry for the relative shortness, but to be honest this was more of a semi-filler for the next chapter. Anyways, please feel free to leave a review, comment, or thoughts on or about the story, and have a wonderful evening! Until next time! Next chapter: Bloodshed**


	29. XXVII Bloodshed

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Seven: Bloodshed**

 **Hello again! New chapter, only want to give a heads up, this chapter might be a bit bloody/brutal. Anyways, enjoy!**

The lonely White Fang sentry crouches on the roof of her warehouse hideout. Below her, also guarding the eastern doorway, a tiger Faunus cradles his dust-powered assault rifle. It had been a nerve-racking twenty-four hours, but yet they must still be on their guard. Come morning, they would disperse into smaller groups, and continue to lie low until whatever the next phase of the plan is to start.

The female hedgehog Faunus raises a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress the yawn that escapes. Suddenly, a bloody gurgle makes a surprise follow-up as a long metal blade pierces between two of her neck vertebras and emerging through her throat. Her last though: I should have stayed in bed. A wet snapping sound soon follows as the unknown assailant snaps the damaged neck of the dying terrorist. Her limp body is then dragged by the armpits further towards the center of the roof.

Having removed the bayonet knife, the _Jäger_ crouches down as he approaches the edge, his suppressor-equipped revolver at the ready. His stealth semblance constantly being activated, a cruel smirk twists his lips slightly as a flash of light rips through the inky black night. _'How perfect,'_ He thinks silently, thunder causing the sentry below him to look slightly upwards as drops of water being to fall down. The _Jäger_ doesn't move, waiting for the doomed terrorist to look back downwards. When that happens, he moves forward once again.

The next time the sky lights up with lightening, the _Jäger_ strikes once more. Leaping down like a shadow, he presses the end of the suppresser mounted to his seven-shot revolver against the back of the Faunus's head. He squeezes the trigger just as the accompanying rumble of thunder arrives. The already-muffled report of the revolver is completely hidden to the occupants inside the warehouse by the thunder.

The body of the surprised White Fang grunt stiffens briefly as the 7.62mm lead bullet enters through the back of his skull, cleaving through the bone and separating grey brain tissue, before finally carving out a rough hole through the forehead of the terrorist, slightly cracking the Grimm-shaped mask. No shell casing hits the ground due to the fact that the firearm is a revolver, and the _Jäger_ deftly catches the fresh corpse with one arm. As the rain slowly begins to increase its intensity, he drags the eliminated sentry to the side of the doorway.

Just as he straightens up after dumping the corpse, however, the west door opens, and a single grunt walks out, a coat with a hood covering his torso. A sword dangles from belt by his hip as he looks around.

"Mike? Where are you? We're switchin posts, so find Becky and get your asses inside. Mike?" The tortoise Faunus asks, stepping further into the now-pouring rain. The metal door closes softly behind him, and the _Jäger_ glides closer to the newest of tonight's victims. Meanwhile, despite the mask covering the upper portion of his face, the White Fang member is clearly growing more and more nervous by the second.

"Mike? This isn't very funny, you know! Where the he—"

Hell, indeed.

With another squeeze of the trigger, the hammer hits the firing pin. When said device hits the center of the bottom of the chambered round, the gunpowder, which is not the black powder the _Jäger_ uses with his self-built single-shot rifle, is ignited. The expanding gas pushes the lead bullet through the barrel. The suppressor slows down the gas, however, to reduce the noise. Jake's revolver releases out a quiet _pop_ as the second bullet finally emerges from the muzzle.

A wet popping sound swiftly follows up as said lead projectile enters right through the left eyes, a cloud of blood erupting as the bullet bursts out through the back of the head, then proceeding to tear a hole through the hood. Jake grunts softly as he finally begins his approach towards the door. Opening it up slightly, he sees the back of a single grunt facing him. After double-checking to see if there are any other comrades nearby that he is aware off, he pushes the door open cautiously, creeping towards the terrorist.

Like a coiled viper, the _Jäger_ lunges forward, knife drawn in a reverse grip, pistol briefly holstered. His free hand clamps down firmly over the mouth, cutting off the shocked cry of his victim. Pressing the sharpened edge to the exposed throat, Jake doesn't bat an eye as he swiftly presses down and cuts through the flesh, severing the jugular in a jagged manner to make for a faster bleed-out. Within a few moments the spasms stop, and the _Jäger_ tosses the corpse onto the wet ground outside.

Looking to his right, Jake almost curses as he turns around to see a stunned White Fang grunt facing him. Upholstering his revolver, Jake fires the all five remaining rounds into his body. Three hit the center of his chest, a fourth in the throat, while the fifth and final round goes right between the eyes. As luck would have it, another low rumble of thunder echoes throughout the building just as the bullet-ridden corpse hits the ground.

After once again double-checking to make sure no one else has seen him just yet, Jake makes his way silently over to a thick column, pressing his back against it upon reaching it. He pops out the now-empty cylinder from his revolver, placing the piece of metal that still contains the seven empty shell casings into a cloth pocket in the make-shift belt he was carrying. Carefully, he then proceeds to withdraw a fresh one, making sure to not drop it. Once placing it into the proper area, the _Jäger_ then cocks the hammer, readying a fresh round.

Both weapons now ready, Jake peaks out from the side of the column, examining the rest of the warehouse swiftly. In addition to somewhere between seventy-five and a hundred White Fang operatives, the central area of the warehouse/hideout has several large Dust containers. While the metal crates are of the military kind, in that they were bullet-proof, he and the others would still have to be as careful as possible with checking their fire once the attack starts.

In addition, the _Jager_ is unable to see if the unaware terrorists have anything heavier than Dust-powered assault rifles in their inventory. Moving back to cover, Jake makes sure that the hood on his tattered cloak is covering enough of his face to make sure it is hidden. While he doubts that there are any cameras inside the building, and even if there were the group already had it covered in the plan for after wiping out the terrorist cell, he had not gotten this far in life by being so reckless.

After all, this attack wouldn't be linked to either the lone member of Team JÄGER or the shadowy group he leads in secret. Ironwood might point his finger at him while lobbing accusations, but as long as enough goes according to the plan, the general cannot do much else beyond being sullen and moody like always.

' _Show time'_ Jake thinks to himself as he steps out into the open, in clear view from the southern windows. The dozens of stunned White Fang members watch silently for a few minutes, unsure of just what the hell they should do. Finally, a lynx Faunus stands up, a sword in one hand, and a snub-nosed machine pistol in the other. _'Probably one of the high-ranking officers present,'_ Jake idly muses to himself.

"Hey, drop your weapons right now!"

At the same time as the terrorist shouts out the demand, the glass behind him shatters as a loud boom goes off. This time, Jake knows that it isn't thunder from the storm. The window directly behind the Faunus shatters. The head explodes, leaving only the bloodied lower jaw and downwards intact. Several of the nearby grunts are splattered by the red and grey gore caused by the 13.2mm steel-cored bullet. A second round craves a gaping hole through the armpits of another.

By this point, all hell breaks loose. White Fang terrorists start to scatter in small groups, heading to one of the three doorways, or for a minority, charging the only visible attacker: the _Jäger_ , who remains out in the open, raising the arm that holds the revolver. Five of the grunts that are armed with assault rifles lead a charge towards the western door behind him. With his typical coolness, the _Jäger_ shifts his arm slightly to the left, stopping once the iron sights of the revolver are matched up with the center of the body of the farthest-most terrorist.

The gun bucks slightly as the firing pin kicks off the internal combustion of the bullet's propellants. The first bullet makes a clean exit wound, causing only a fine mist of blood to erupt at either exit holes for only a brief moment. With a second squeeze of the trigger after once again shifting his aim, a second terrorist collapses like a puppet whose strings had been severed while in mid-motion. Thrice more this is casually repeated with lethal results.

With howls of anger, three more hog terrorists charge toward the _Jäger_ , with each armed with a sword. Once again with practiced ease, Jake drops the grunt on either side of the leader, readying his knife to deal with the sole survivor. Said White Fang member charges forward with a howl, her sword raised overhead.

Like a statue, the combat veteran doesn't even blink at the clumsy attack. Instead, the _Jäger_ side-steps the blow, while at the same time, he lashes out with his bayonet. Unlike his opponent, whose blind anger for vengeance helped result in the missed strike, his hits home.

A shower of blood hits the ground, and some of the now-gutted terrorist's guts hang loosely. A second stab to the heart is his mercy blow. Wiping clean the gore from his blade, Jake deftly swaps out the empty cylinder for a fresh one for his revolver as the rest of his comrades begin to show up.

"Follow me!" A very short but muscular tiger Faunus shouts, gesturing towards the northern doorway. Upon hearing those famous words that many a soldier has found inspiring in the midst of combat, a number of nearby grunts join him as he moves forward. Sadly, it is all for naught.

Coming to a complete halt, the masked tiger terrorist looks up, his ears pinned back in fear, at the inhuman-looking, masked figure before him. His comrades also come to a complete halt, unsure of what to do about this latest addition to the attack. While they cannot see it, Lena grins beneath her facial protection. The smile one would see is not one with warmth, however, instead being as cold as an arctic winter breeze.

"Looking for the exit, luvs?" The sugary-fake tone is distorted by the thick, leather gas mask and respirator. With astonishing speed, Lena fires two shots in the center of the chest of the tiger Faunus. With the other hand, she slams the round, simple head of the all-metal club onto the center of the skull of a goat Faunus nearby. Smashing through the bone, she holsters her pistol and club before grabbing the projector of her main weapon.

With a terrifying _whoosh_ , a stream of burning gel is hurled into the stunned crowd of terrorists. Weapons clatter to the ground as anguished howls fill the air. The horrid sight of burning bodies, some of them vainly trying to roll on the ground or outside in the rain to dampen the hellish blaze, along with the sickening, retching smell of burnt flesh and hair, is one that the squad leader is (sadly) used to. Once she sees that the entire group has been doused in her hellish blaze, she quickly shuts off the streams of flame. While it is extremely powerful against organic foes, there are two major disadvantages with it. The first is the relatively short range, though this is not much of a problem when inside a building like this. The second issue is the relatively short use of sustained use in a battle, her backpack being able to carry only a limited quantity of the gel.

Another crowd of a dozen terrorists, mostly armed with swords or clubs this time, though a few do carry Dust-powered machine pistols, rushes forward, intent on using their larger numbers to swarm and overwhelm the woman. Said person simply sighs, one of her hands moving towards her belt. Unclipping one of the metal canisters that dangle, she pulls the pin before throwing it at the oncoming attackers. Bouncing off of the head of one of the leading figures, the object is slightly overhead of the center of the group before exploding.

Instead of a massive wave of shrapnel, like one of the grenades belonging to the other members of her squad, however, another wave of burning gel is splattered over the unfortunate beings. Just like moments earlier, they drop their weapons and scatter, attempting to put out the agonizing burning sensation in what quickly proves to be futile efforts once again. In the meantime, Lena silently walks amongst the flames. The heat doesn't bother her thanks to the thick uniform. She merely keeps the projector part of the flamethrower at the ready,

At the direct opposite side of the warehouse, a sickening crunch echoes in the doorway as Rouille's long-shafted mace makes direct contact with the mask (and by extension, skull) of the leading terrorist of a group of roughly two dozen. Trying to strike the warrior from behind, another of Strelok's heavy-caliber bullets puts a swift end to the attempt.

Meanwhile, the other terrorists that try to block the seemingly-random mace strikes are suddenly startled by the surprising grace the armored being has in dodging. A cow Faunas is sent flying upwards with a broken jaw and neck, followed almost instantly by the collapse of a massive moose terrorist, whose antlers have been broken off, along with a shattered skull.

Suddenly, the sound of small-arms fire goes off right in front of him. Gripping his stomach in pain, the terrorist that has just been shot collapses to the ground. Smoke rises from Rouille's forty-five-caliber revolver for a brief moment before he thumbs the hammer back and fires again. Soon a total of six grunts each have a fatal bullet wound either in the gut, the chest, or the head. Demoralized, the survivors start to break, allowing for the mace-wielder and lone-wolf sniper to pick them off with pathetic ease with his mace.

Another group of Faunus terrorists ready themselves to burst out of the doorway at the eastern end of the building when suddenly the door slams inward. At that exact moment, a flash of lightening illuminates the one responsible, which to the terrified grunts is a nightmarish one: a massive, armored man who is equipped with some sort of machine gun. Before they can do anything, however, the person before them squeezes the trigger for his weapon.

A rapid burst of gunfire fills the area as brass shell casings start to hit the floor after being ejected from the bottom of heavy, water-cooled machine gun. 7.92mm lead bullets, with the occasional tracer round, dances out of the barrel into and through the bodies of the dozen-and-a-half Faunus terrorists. Their pain-filled screeches of terror are mercifully cut short as the many of those very bodies are mangled to the brink of being utterly unrecognizable. Only once the corpses either fall out of the storm of lead bullets, or for a few, the gun stops firing, do they stop their macabre dance, falling to the floor.

Two sword-wielding deer White Fang grunts jump out of their hiding spots to the left once the armored figure of Gonzo passes by, having missed them while mowing down their comrades. Before they could get a chance to try to strike down the attacker, and thus avenge their fallen comrades-in-arms, one of them is suddenly thrown backwards as a cloud of red mist suddenly erupts from her chest, knocking over a stack of wooden boxes before the now-punctured body hits the ground.

"Not so fast, _Bastardo_ ," Fonzo warns as a thin cloud of smoke finishes dissipating from the left barrel of his twin-submachine gun. "So, how much are you feeling lucky, punk?"

The clang of steel is his answer, as the simple metal sword slips through the now-numb fingers of the stunned, surviving antlered terrorist. Fonzo merely shrugs his shoulders ever so slightly. Then he squeezes the trigger for the right gun.

With a sharp and rapid report, the entire 25-round magazine of nine millimeter bullets is exhausted. Fonzo then removes the two, now-empty, magazines as he walks over the growing pool of blood, following his taller and more muscular brother as he reloads his unique firearm. Once that is finished, he keeps his eyes out for any threats Gonzo might have missed, in addition to mowing down the occasional straggler attempting to escape the slaughterhouse that was once a secretive and secure White Fang safe house.

Soon the noise and other sounds of fighting decrease and then fade. The attackers, minus the silent and loner sniper, meet up in the center. Still high on adrenaline, Rouille lets out a grunt. "This was no battle," the berserker says in his typical accent. Jake nods in agreement.

"I completely agree. This was more of a massacre. Squad Leader Brown, are we ready?" Lena nods her head rapidly.

"Yes sir!"

"Fonzo, Gonzo, get those Dust containers open! Lena, Rouille, prepare to toss one of those incendiary grenades into one of them. We are burning this place to the ground. Let's move it!" Jake shouts, sheathing his bayonet and holstering his revolver at the same time. Lena tosses one of her grenades to her commanding officer and her melee specialist comrade each. Meanwhile, the Verde brothers open the three major Dust containers, revealing each to be at least half-full of high-quality explosive Dust.

Without any more words, the grenades are thrown into Dust, and the five members of the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn swiftly exit the warehouse, just as Lena's explosive go off. Only a few minutes go by before the sound of sirens are heard, a clear indication of the imminent arrival of the undoubtedly beleaguered emergency services of the city of Vale. This means it is time to split up and leave now.

Jake turns and looks at his comrades, nodding his still-hooded head once in proud acknowledgement. "Good work. Get Strelok and head back to Junior's club. Keep a low profile for now. I will be in touch soon." Then he departs, his semblance active once again as he begins to move subtly back to Beacon Academy. It will be at least mildly interesting to see how or if the local authorities will explain what they think has happened here tonight. Regardless, only one thing really matters in the mind of the _Jäger_ at the moment.

This is but the first of many strikes against Salem and her pawns. His war has now truly begun, and more blood shall be spilt on these streets and so many other places throughout Remnant.

 **And done! Sorry for the unexpected long wait, but I am still (somewhat slowly, I am sad to say) trying to get a proper updating schedule while still focusing enough on my college studies. In addition, I am working on making these chapters longer (such as going back to a planned minimum of at least 2500-3000 words, and hopefully will soon be pushing that number back up to at least 5,000 like I did for a great many chapters in the last non one-shot story I completed. Now, as to updates I am planning on a new chapter no later than by the end of this month. Again, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this story, and feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, reviews, or other such things down below, and have a great day! See you next update! Next chapter: Of Mornings and Headaches**


	30. XVIII Of Mornings and Headaches

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Eight: Of Mornings and Headaches**

With a barely-suppressed yawn, Jake gets out of the warm comfort of his bed. His _katana_ , _Sōryū_ , rests in the area between his bed and the nightstand. After making it through the rainstorm and dodging cops, the _Jäger_ had placed the legendary blade that marked the leader of his Order somewhere close by, just in case. Now standing in the middle of his assigned room, Jake takes a quick look around. After all, it would be pretty damn stupid if he got caught now just because he was carless.

Was his revolver hidden? Check.

Cloak? Dry (or rather, at least somewhat) and folded.

Bayonet? Cleaned and placed securely in the sheathe he uses, currently held by Neo.

Jake pauses for a moment, eyes widening slightly. Looking again, he sees that his twin sister is indeed in his room, with a small and mischievous smile present on her lips. She winks playfully at him before tossing the bayonet and its scabbard towards her brother, who deftly catches it in the air. His brief expression of surprise swiftly morphs into a grin of pleasure. Placing the leather scabbard onto his nightstand, Jake addresses his mute twin.

"I didn't expect you to be here this early, sis. I'm guessing that the bomb is no longer a problem." Neo nods her head once, still smiling. Then an absolutely deadpan expression appears as she gestures to him in sign language.

 _Sounds like you were rather busy last night, bro. Care to explain?_ Upon finishing signing the last word, she holds up a copy of the local newspaper. On it, in bold print, is the headline: ' **Mysterious Fire and Slaughter in the Warehouse District** '. A semi-sheepish expression grows on the face of the _Jäger_. He walks over and silently cracks it open slightly, just enough to allow him to peak out into the hallway. After checking both directions and seeing no one, he gently closes the door before turning to his diminutive twin. Said sibling is now tapping her left foot on the ground, her arms crossed, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"I promise I will explain everything in detail tonight, but for now, allow me to give you a short summary of what has happened to me since the last night we saw mom alive. I ran into the Emerald Forest, and an old hermit who turned out to be a high-ranking member of a secret warrior society dedicated to protecting the four kingdoms took me in as his apprentice. He told me later that I was actually the next leader, and gave me my _katana_. I took over, and now I am investigating a plot to conquer the kingdoms. A plot, if I might add, that would have involved you, had I not jammed that bomb yesterday."

There is a long stretch of silence. Neo stares at her taller brother with pink and brown eyes. A look of utter disbelief graces her features. Finally, she makes a single hand gesture. _Seriously?_ Jake nods with a grunt.

"Seriously." Before either can continue, however, a rapid series of light knocks is heard from the other side of the dorm room's door. Jake grabs _Sōryū_ , though he doesn't pull it out of its lacquered scabbard. Instead, he clutches the laminated wood just above the hand guard, holding it by his side casually. Then he opens the door, present is a calm, if somewhat stone-like, look on his face. Said expression quickly morphs into a gentle smile as he looks down at his shorter girlfriend.

"Good morning Jake!" Ruby says with her usual chipper energy. Jake lets out a chuckle as the arm holding his sword is lowered. He holds the door open, allowing the leader of Team RWBY into his assigned quarters.

"Good morning Ruby. You actually picked a very good time to show up. There's someone I want you to meet," Jake tells his girlfriend, who looks up at him with questioning silver eyes.

"Oh? Who is it?"

"Ruby, meet my twin sister, Neopolitan Torchwick. Sis, this is Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY, youngest student to ever attend Beacon Academy, and my girlfriend." The short girl with red-and-black hair looks at the aforementioned, shorter girl. Ruby's already wide eyes somehow manage to widen even more so. Activating her speed semblance, the reaper darts forward, leaving behind her typical trademark rose petal trail behind.

"Oh my god you're here finally! I've been waiting for this! Jake, I just realized she is super cute!" Upon hearing this last part, Neo's face twists into a grimace, her hands becoming a flurry of movement as she signals her extreme displeasure to her brother. After letting out a short chortle, clearly amused by the scene, Jake addresses his extremely energetic girlfriend.

"Yes, Ruby. Neo is going to be staying here. Speaking of which, do you have any idea about how we should address—"

"Oh, hey guys!" Jake closes his mouth with an almost-audible click while Ruby greets Weiss and Blake. The face of the former has a mixture of irritation and sleepiness present on her features, while the latter has a rolled up newspaper in her right hand. "Jake's sister is here! Where is Yang? I want to show her this!" The BY of Team RWBY both raise an eyebrow at that last sentence. When their young team leader pauses with a silent, questioning look, Blake lets out a sigh.

"Don't you remember what Yang said last night about what happened between them?" Alarm floods Ruby's face.

"Oh, no. This is bad! Quick, we got to hide—"

"There you are Rubes!"

' _Shit,'_ Jake thinks to himself as the very girl they were talking about enters the room.

"So, what do you and your boyfriend have got planned today? A long romantic walk? Geeking out over weapons?" Ruby's half-sister only stops walking halfway between the door and the center of the room, still in her pajamas like the rest of her team. A wide, almost-infectious smile graces her face.

Then the buxom blonde brawler notices a certain mute, tri-color themed girl, sitting on Jake's bed and trying to not draw any attention. Her smile dies an ugly death before a large scowl appears. In an instant, gentle lilac orbs become bright red pools of blood. Golden hair becomes brighter, and her fists are clenched so tightly, it is a wonder that no blood has been drawn. Knowing that in her anger, Yang would most likely ignore any verbal warnings, Jake slowly shifts his body until he is between the two rivals. _Sōryū_ , still in its equally-ancient sheath, is clutched in his right hand as a simple warning, not a threat. Ruby's silver eyes bounce back and forth rapidly between her older sister and her boyfriend, while the rest of RWBY steps back, equally nervous. No one says anything as the tensions continues for another minute or so.

Finally, Yang lets out a sigh, though her eyes remain red. "I'm going to go _train_. After all, since classes are canceled and whatnot, I've got plenty of time to _kill_ ," Yang nearly hisses in a mixture of anger and disgust. Then, spinning around, she stomps out of the room and down the hall. Yet another moment of awkward silence hangs in the area. Letting out a weary sigh, Jake pinches the bridge of his nose between his left thumb and index finger, shaking his head slightly. Ruby shoots an extremely apologetic look to both her boyfriend and his sibling.

"I'm so sorry about that. I will talk to Yang about that today, I promise!"

Jake gives her a gentle hug. "It's fine Ruby. Let's be honest, Yang very well might have been killed yesterday if I hadn't made it in time. So of course, she has a pretty good reason to be mad, and if there is anything I have learned about your sister, it is that when she is angry, she isn't likely to listen to reason. Give her some time to cool off, ok?"

Though her child-like face has a pout, giving the mental image of a sad puppy, Ruby nods her head once, sighing at the same time. "Oh fine, I guess," she mutter to him. After another few seconds of relative silence, Blake lets out a slight cough, which gains the attention of her two shorter teammates and the leader/sole member of Team JÄGER. The newspaper that the former member of the White Fang had been holding rolled up is now held open. Once again facing him are the words Neo had shown him not that long ago.

"I just found this in front of our door. Everyone else has a copy as well, it seems. Busy last night?" The cat Faunus asks, part dryly, part accusingly. Jake scoffs, easily feigning ignorance.

"I wish. Pity I wasn't the one who was doing that clean-up," Jake lies smoothly. The heiress to the Schnee Dust Company again raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest before speaking up.

"So, what you are saying is that you had absolutely nothing to do with this so-called massacre last night?" Despite himself, the _Jäger_ lets out a smirk.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that. Just relax. It's not like we're going to be missing any of those terrorists responsible for the Breach." Ruby nods her head rapidly, with a single one from her partner. Meanwhile, Jake notices the unconvinced look on Blake's face as she purses her lips together. The leader of the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn can clearly see the desire to press on with the topic. Eventually, however, Yang's partner lets out a disappointed sigh before she too nods her head slightly.

"Now, fi that is all settled, I'm hungry. Let's grab some breakfast before I get any more of a headache."

This afternoon, however, Jake will be contacting his second-in-command, to discuss the coming war.

 **Elsewhere in Beacon…**

With a growl, she tosses the now-crumpled newspaper into the trash bin. Her two minions are both, thankfully, silent. She finally stops outside the window, both of her hands pressing down on the wooden still. Cinder Fall was not happy. Not one bit at all happy.

First, the quasi-Fall Maiden finds out that Torchwick's daughter, who was going to be playing a rather key role in her master plan, is missing. Then she finds out that warehouse the White Fang survivors from the Breach went out of contact during the night. Now, this morning, the fiery, amber-eyed girl finds out that they had all been slaughtered, and a fair amount of her valuable resources had been destroyed. If this keeps up, her mistress is going to not be pleased.

Finally, she turns to her right-hand woman. "Emerald." Said girl/suck-up looks up rapidly.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Send a message to dear Adam. Tell him to start applying the disguise for Unichtozheniye, and then to send it here before the tournament starts. Adam should also be told to start training a special squad of his followers to act as members of a boarding party. In the meantime, both you and Mercury will also keep an eye on this…son of Roman. He is starting to be more of a problem than I expected. Don't engage him in combat, however."

Emerald nods her head rapidly, determined to please her mistress. "It will be done at once." Mercury simply grunts as he lunges lazily on his bed, a comic book in his hands that only has part of his attention on.

Cinder merely nods her head, still looking outside. "What will be your next move, _Jäger_?"

 **And done early! Sorry, I just struggled with this chapter in making it long enough, but hopefully the next one will be much closer to the previously-stated goal for words per chapter. Heads up, we will be seeing more OCs next chapter. As always, please feel free to leave reviews/thoughts/comments down below! Have a wonderful day and until next time! Next chapter: Preparing for War**


	31. XXIX Preparing for War

**Jäger Chapter Twenty-Nine: Preparing for War**

 **Vacuo-Vale Border…**

In a shallow, arid canyon in Vacuo, a loud shout echoes.

"Man, this fuckin shit is starting to get way too damn easy lads!"

Atop the lead wagon of a small caravan, the bearded leader of a rag-tag group of bandits is applauded with coarse laughter. The wagon train they had just captured was part of the quarterly supply run from the rich border towns of Vale to the major cities of the desert lands of Vacuo. In the distance behind them, shrouded by the ever-constant sight of mist, the massive mountains that divide the two kingdoms seem to look down on this scene ominously. Typically this event involved large numbers of wagons, with heavy escorts by soldiers of both kingdoms, to protect the valuable supplies from both Grimm and opportunistic bandits. This particular batch of merchants, however, had the misfortune to have been delayed by bad weather while crossing the pass. When they finally emerged, they were easy pickings for this group of three dozen bandits.

"Ey boss, wha we gonna da ith dese chumps 'e 'ave?" ask a half-toothless, bearded bandit, his spear/bow combination weapon pointed at the two dozen gagged and tied convoy members. The leader of the criminals scratches his chin with the hilt of his long, curved dagger, a cruel glint in his eyes. Finally, he lets out a bark of laughter.

"What we normally do, Scrag. Go to the nearest outpost, try to ransom them, and once we get it, kill them!"

So much focused the group is on their prize, that they ignore the rocky cliffs on either side. If they had, they would have possibly noticed the occasional glimpse of movement, or maybe the glint of sunlight being reflected off of bare iron. Four men carrying rifles kneel once they are in position, two to either side of the canyon. The tall, yet young, person who is the apparent leader looks down the barrel of his lever-action gun is lined up directly with the head of the bald, bearded fuck.

Once that is done, he flips open the latch to one of the four leather-covered boxes on his belt, revealing a long, rectangular block of wood with six deep holes drilled into them. Inside of each of the holes are seven .56-.56 rimfire bullets, stacked on top of one another inside a metal tube. The purpose for the tube was to be taken out when a reload was needed and inserted into the tubular magazine located in the butt of the lever-action rifle. In addition to his repeater, he carries a holstered, high-powered revolver that can also transform into a bowie knife strapped to either of his thighs. A yellow-and-red bandana covers the lower part of his face, while the cowboy hat protects him from the scorching sun.

Next to him, who is also kneeling down on one leg behind the decent-sized rock, is a short but broad-shouldered and dark-skinned man wearing a faded blue civilian coat, slightly torn brown pants, and a khaki-colored wide-brimmed hat. As opposed to his nearby companion's multi-shot breach-loader, he is armed with a longer-barreled, single-shot, rolling block action breach-loader. Around his waist, just above his belt, is a bandolier for carrying a number of 8mm rounds, with a second bandolier diagonally across his chest. Another six rounds are held by a set of fabric webbing fitted on the right side of the butt. Finally, another three rounds are held in his left hand between his fingers, the purposing being for a quick reload after the already-chambered round is fired. The man cocks the hammer back all the way, and then nods at his commander.

A grim expression on his face, the cowboy-like teenager looks across the canyon, and cocks the hammer of his own gun upon seeing another khaki hat being waved back and forth several times in a pre-arranged signal. He turns to his older companion. "Take out that archer, while I go for the leader, understood Shaka?" Shaka grunts in acknowledgement, adjusting his aim. His younger companion then looks through the iron sight once again. He takes a deep breath before letting out two words in a loud, commanding tone.

"OPEN FIRE!"

As soon as he finishes saying the last part of his command, the cowboy squeezes the trigger. The hammer slams forward, hitting the striker that sets off the black powder contained in the copper shell casing. The gas then shoves the lead bullet down the gun barrel. The gun bucks somewhat as the bullet emerges from the muzzle, a relatively thin white cloud of smoke appearing in front of the cowboy. Meanwhile, said shooter keeps his eyes focused on the expression of shock on the face of the self-appointed leader of the now-ambushed bandits. That expression quickly slackens as the dagger-wielder stumbles backwards, off of the top of the cart, courtesy of the cowboy's bullet creating a bloodied hole roughly in the center of the forehead. At the same time, the archer/spear-wielder drops his weapon and reaches for his throat as Shaka's bullet also rips straight through the flesh of his throat and shattering the relatively-weak neck bones.

Once he sees his target is killed, he moves his right hand so that it is gripping the lever directly underneath the butt and trigger of the gun. Yanking it downwards, the still-warm copper shell casing is ejected from the breach, and as its operator returns the lever to its original position, a new round is chambered. Beside him, Shaka moves the breech block of his rifle back up, a new 8mm round already chambered to replace the one fired. Almost as one, the two cock their hammers on their rifles backwards. They both pull the triggers of their rifles, having already lined up their iron sights with new targets.

Both of the hammers seem to lunge forward as one. Again, both lead bullets strike true, killing two more bandits. Leaderless and heavily demoralized, the opportunistic thieves and murderers begin to scatter. A few members who are armed guns, however, try to return fire. While it may be seen as being brave, it is ultimately useless. The four attackers continue their deadly stream of metal death with no remorse.

The skirmish ends as swiftly as it began, having lasted less than five minutes. The entire group of bandits has been wiped out, with no casualties to either hostages or attackers.

"Another worthless group of thieves dealt with, Colt," Shaka says in a simple comment, grunting slightly as he stands back up.

"Indeed, Shaka. Ah reckon—"

Colt never finishes his sentence as four distinctive, high-pitched beeps goes off. The four gunslingers are being hailed by their fellow Order members. Pulling out the specially-made and encrypted Scroll they had been issued upon joining, Colt's dark brown eyes slowly start to widen as he reads, and then re-reads the message. When he looks up, he sees a similar look of shock on his second-in-command's face.

"Mah god. Ya'll okay with escorting the caravan to the nearest city?" Shaka doesn't respond, merely rolling his eyes slightly in mock indignation. Colt lets out a sheepish smile, letting out an awkward cough. "Right, stupid question. Once yah finish that, assemble the others. Ah have no doubt that we'll be moving out soon, so it would be nice to be ready to move out for this upcoming battle."

 **Later…**

Colt Remington enters the ground level (and obviously well-hidden) main gate to the massive, multi-level complex built within the large, mist-shrouded mountain known to the four kingdoms as Mount Suribachi. Equally well-hidden is the extensive, but currently unmanned, defenses. Heavy machine gun pillboxes are almost hidden to all but the most trained eyes, while empty slots are the only indications of the anti-tank and field guns that would be rolled out for firing. At and around the midway point of the exterior of the mountain, stone casemates, reinforced with high-quality steel, serve as dedicated positions for far-reaching howitzers and heavy artillery have camouflaged mounts, allowing for highly-accurate and well-protected gun positions. Spread out between those heavy guns and the upper slopes of the mountain are heavy siege-type mortars, and the mountain's primary long-distance air defense, surface-to-air missile launcher sites.

Inside the massive, carved-out mountain that serves as the central base of operations for the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn, the activity that started only days ago has not stopped, only increasing. At the root of the mountain, the sprawled-out mine is being operated at 100% capacity, huge chunks of tungsten ore, as well other valuable metals, are being extracted every hour. From the mines, the raw ores are sent to the large forge several levels above. There, several dozen men and women, many with few if any peers in their fields outside of the Order, pound, melt, and shape the materials to create deadly Aura-piercing and anti-Grimm rounds for various types of weaponry. Lesser ore, such as iron, is smelted into steel for shields, melee weapons, and of course, body armor. The ringing sounds of metal being hammered and molded into these forms echoes throughout the bowels of the ancient mountain.

Towards the center of the mountain base is a massive, open hanger/motor pool. Almost a hundred of heavily-modified Bullhead transports line the sides by the walls. Some have hollowed-out areas in place of the passenger compartment, designed to transport one of the numerous large armored vehicles, of various sizes and types, all owned and operated by the Order. In addition, twelve sleek-looking fighter jets, with forward-swept wings, are being checked up on to ensure that they are fully prepared to serve as high-speed escorts.

Another two specially-designed aircraft huddle to either side of the two massive sliding doors. Each is a single-seat, twin jet engine fighter. A deadly-looking, seven-barreled 30mm rotary cannon juts out from underneath the nose of the fuselage, while various hard points along the wings allow the fitting of various types of munitions, such as rocket-launching pods, missiles, and of course highly-explosive Dust bombs. These serve as the primary, designated ground-support fighters. Both have the snarling, legendary Wyvern Grimm sketched onto the front of the fuselage.

In the center, grease-covered mechanics continue their check-up of a large, 10-foot tall and seventy-six and a half ton heavy tank, its turret carrying a nearly 20-foot long gun. Nearby, the twin engines of an even larger, heavier tank, its main turret armed with a long-barreled 75mm gun, and a smaller, secondary turret at the back, armed with a 20mm auto-cannon, and a machine gun armament of three 8mm machine guns, lets out their throaty roars. A third vehicle has workers checking on its eight missile tubes, while several more finish polishing the 30mm cannons mounted on either side of the turret. Other vehicles are being loaded with ammunition and fuel tanks are completely filled. While one such mechanic finishes emptying a jerry can into the fuel tank, four more men finish their own task of placing belts of 23mm autocannon shells are loaded into the radar-carrying turret of a four-gun self-propelled anti-aircraft gun platform.

The nearby rooms that branch out are, mostly, smaller. These are the armories, each containing a staggeringly wide variety of various types of weaponry that would make a weapon geek like Ruby simply shut down and drool is awe. One of those rooms is unique in that it holds various types of rocket launchers, ranging from rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifles to anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft launchers. The only room that isn't small contains the cannons of various calibers and types that make up the potent artillery of the Order. Low-lying anti-tank guns, far-reaching heavy artillery, high-arching mortars, light-weight and easily-disassembled/assembled pack guns, heavy recoilless rifles, all of these and more are present here. While most of the larger cannons are deployed in or near the exterior casemates and pillboxes, there are a few examples designed to be deployed in the field. An 88mm anti-tank gun lies in a corner, its massive barrel partially covered by a somewhat-sloppily placed camouflage net. The distinctive grooves, clearly visible on the muzzle of a 152mm howitzer are certainly a curiosity to behold.

The next set of rooms on the next level, which is situated between the halfway point of the mountain and the very peak, contain the barracks, mess halls, gyms, and other training rooms for the nearly thousand soldiers present and not deployed elsewhere like Colt was. Despite the large amount of space, almost all of the off-duty men and women are in the training room, either sparring against one another or sharpening their skills with their weapons. It has been estimated that it can have a maximum capacity for around eight thousand soldiers and support staff. However, the days were that number would be used have long passed, and only a third of its potential occupants actually use it. The rest of the Order are either deployed on missions or stationed near the kingdoms of Vale, Vacuo, and Mistral.

But it is the very peak of the carved-out mountain citadel that is the most impressive. Extremely strong yet light one-way windows had been placed all around. Inside is some of the most advance electronic communications equipment currently known to the four kingdoms of Remnant, even for the people of Atlas. As Colt enters the room, he sees that inside are a number of people. Some of them are in some sort of uniforms. Others are in armor, such as the seven-foot-tall man towering directly in front of the young Colt Remington. Said fighter straightens up immediately, his right hand being raised as he salutes the second-in-command of the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn. A quiver of arrows hangs, slightly loosely, at his waist, while a grey, feline-like tail twitches back-and-forth every so often. Opposite of his quiver, a scabbard for a _tachi_ hangs close to his side. The tall man wears laminated armor, with a symbol of a bald man sitting cross-legged, a large orange circle starting to peak out behind the figure. Over that he wears white robes, and his normally-present cowl that obscures all but his nose and eyes of his face is absent.

"Good. Now that we are all here, if you would, my _musume_ ," Minamoto Tākoizu, Jake Torchwick's second-in-command, asks, turning to his shorter daughter, Tajima. She nods once in reply, her dark black hair tied up in a bun underneath her fanciful helmet: two straight antler-like horns, with a butterfly whose wings are fully extended between the two at the crest of the helmet. Leaning over the consul of the large, circular and mechanical table they were all gathered around, she types a command into the consul.

For less than a minute, lights flicker and machinery hums before finally a solid, albeit blue, image appears. "In the name of the Brothers we serve," the _Jäger_ intones with a solemn manner.

"In the name of the Brothers we serve," Everyone says in return.

"As happy I am to see you all in good health after these long months at Beacon, we all know that this meeting is of vital importance. Salem is stepping up her plans for war. I have ascertained the location of Amber. She is alive, barely. Salem's pawn has severely weakened and somehow managed to siphon off a fair amount of power from the Fall Maiden. I know that she is present on Beacon grounds. I fear that the Breach is merely the prelude for something far larger," Jake says.

"Do you think that something will happen during the Vytal Festival?" An officer wearing hunting gear used in the wilder regions of Vale asks. Jake grunts in response.

"Absolutely, which is why I am now speeding up the deployment of our forces," Jake says, nodding once to Minamoto. The tall puma Faunus presses a button on the table, and a map of both Vale and Beacon Academy, along with the surrounding area, appears. "Colt, once the majority of our Vacuo brethren are mustered, you are to take them, as well as most of our SPAAG batteries into the outskirts of the city. From there, you will secure and establish a perimeter around both Beacon and the city. Keep out of sight from Ironwood's men. Before you ask, yes, he is in charge of security for the duration of the tournament. Keep an eye out for unregistered aircraft and large aerial Grimm, understand?"

"Ah hear ya loud and clear boss-man."

"Good. Minamoto, I have decided which units to send as reinforcements. I want the 8th Machine Gun Squad, two rocket-launcher teams, and the first section of the 18th Atlesian Infantry Company. Make sure that the commanding officer of this detachment knows to stay low, and avoid drawing the attention of General Ironwood. Last thing we need now is for Atlas to try and arrest their so-called traitors," Jake finishes with a growl.

The 18th had been an elite, combat-proven company under the command of the Verde brothers. When they had been arrested, so too were their subordinates when they refused to turn the then-Atlesian Faunus officers. So of course, it went without saying that there was more than just bad blood between them and Atlas. A woman in the uniform of the police force of Menagerie now addresses their leader with a simple question of her own.

"What about Samar and his squad?" The _Jäger_ pauses for a moment, his holographic projection showing that he is holding his chin with his left hand, deep in thought. Finally he turns to Tajima.

"Last I heard they were deployed in Mistral in pursuit of a local terrorist bombing cell. What is there status on that front, Tajima?"

"Sir, he sent word that he was going to launch a raid within the next two nights." Again Jake gives a single nod.

"That is very good. When he returns, inform him to ready his squad for deployment in Vale by the time the festival starts. Tell them to bring everything. Scanners, door-breaching charges, stun grenades, you know, the works. Am I understood?"

" _Hai!_ "

"Minamoto, I want our men at maximum readiness. Have all units form up and stay under war-time conditions until I say otherwise. I will leave it up to you delegate which of our armored forces will be deployed in the city if the call goes out. However, I would like for you to arrive in Vale a few days before the tournament." Upon hearing this, father and daughter briefly exchange equally-puzzled expressions before the former looks back up at the holographic figure of his leader.

"While I can do this sir, may I ask why?" His already piqued curiosity is only raised further by the slight grin appearing on Jake's lip.

"I would have thought that you would like to see your protégée again. I suspect Ozpin and his compatriots are looking at possible Fall Maiden candidates, and I wouldn't be surprised if she is chosen. It would be nice for her to have a friendly face secretly guarding her."

"Miss Nikos?"

"Do you have anyone other than your daughter or her as your protégée?"

Having known the _Jäger_ the longest, as he was one of the first to be recruited to replenish the ranks of the Order upon Jake's appointment as Grand Marshal, Minamoto doesn't reply, knowing the rhetoric question was more of a jest than an insult. Jake then looks behind him before resuming the meeting.

"I have to go. Colt, inform me when you have established that perimeter. Minamoto, inform me both when the requested fighters have arrived and when you are on your way to Beacon. Also, I want our air fleet at maximum readiness. Until next time," Jake finishes before severing the connection. His ghostly form disappears from the table, and his top officers all exchange reserved looks. After all, who knows who will die and who will survive the coming storm of fire and death?

 **And done! Hopefully this will continue to be the minimum length from now on. Also, this is also the start of my (5 day) Fall Break, so I am planning on having the next chapter up soon. Colt Remington belongs to Le MAO XXIII, and Samar belongs to phillipf1114. One last thing, sorry if the ending feels rushed, but I wasn't sure how would be the best way to end it, and I may have gone overboard with describing the military capacity of the Order of the Shrikes of the Mournful Dawn. As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and feel free to leave your thought and other stuff behind in the comments. Have a wonderful time until next time! Next chapter: A Trip to Vale**


	32. Question

**Sorry for falling off. I am considering re-writing this fanfic, thoughts?**


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